Tennessee Voices, Episode 370: Joshua Mundy and Daren Swenson, education and recidivism
The challenges for formerly incarcerated people going back into society are multiple: Affording the rent, rebuilding relationships and gaining employment.
The rising cost of living in cities, such as Nashville, means that wages from a low-paying job alone will not be enough.
That's why training soon-to-be released prisoners with the tools of the 21 century economy is a way to help them find good-paying jobs and also stay out of prison.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, my guests are Joshua Mundy, CEO and co-founder of the Pivot Technology School, and Daren Swenson, vice president of re-entry partnerships and innovation for CoreCivic, a private prison company.
They discussed efforts to make an impact on formerly incarcerated people and change the trajectory of their lives by teaching them about subjects ranging from cybersecurity to data analytics. They
They wrote about their work together earlier this year in a guest opinion column.
This provides them a skillset to afford to live in a fast-growing city.
Mundy is an entrepreneur by trade and Swenson began his career at CoreCivic 30 years ago as a correctional officer.
Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.
Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter: Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee.
Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter: Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee.
About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Watch past episodes: Tennessee Voices videocast
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at dplazas@tennessean.com. Thank you for watching.
Finally, our journalists are working hard during this pandemic to bring you accurate, verified and solid information. Please consider subscribing and supporting local journalism.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063 or email him at dplazas@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Video podcast: Joshua Mundy and Daren Swenson on education, recidivism
