As a formerly incarcerated person with three felony convictions, Stanley Andrisse was faced with the challenges of finding a career pathway upon release. Andrisse, executive director, Prison to Professionals, says, “When I was released, I realized that there were these roadblocks in place for people with criminal convictions who wanted to put their lives back together.”
WorkingNation sat down with Andrisse at Presented by JFF Horizons – See Beyond 2022 in New Orleans.
He says, “The mission of the organization is to help individuals who’ve been impacted by the system excel beyond what society and life circumstances has set to be the norm. We want to help people get meaningful jobs. We want to help people bring purpose and value into their lives and into the lives of others.”
“We run our own training programs,” says Andrisse. “We have about 30 people employed on the team and about 85% of the people on our team are formally incarcerated. We truly believe that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, but often furthest from resources and access to funds to actually create solutions.”
He continues, “We employ our mission. The benefit to that is not only are they formally incarcerated, but they have the credentials, the schooling, the education, and the certifications behind them to offer the things that we do.”
Participants are given guidance to help them determine a career pathway that may lead to applying for programs at higher ed institutions. Others might opt for a shorter-term training opportunity. “In the past five years, we’ve had close to a thousand applications for the program. And from that data, about 35% are looking for STEM careers,” says Andrisse.
In addition to his role with P2P, Andrisse is also an endocrinology scientist, as well as faculty at Howard University College of Medicine.
Learn more about Prison to Professionals.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
