Untapped Solutions, like 'LinkedIn for the formerly incarcerated,' hosts Yonkers job fair

Andre Peart knows just how hard it is to get a job after being in prison. That's why he created Untapped Solutions, what he's characterized as a "LinkedIn for the formerly incarcerated" to help people get out of the system and into the workforce.

Peart, 33, is from Yonkers and was in prison for six years after being involved with gang activity.

"I was a young kid and made stupid decisions," he said. "I got out of prison and went through that re-entry journey. It sucked. Shelters, paperwork, case workers, social workers. The long game of referrals, the long public assistance lines."

Untapped Solutions is hosting a job fair for all, not just the formerly incarcerated, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Yonkers Public Library. Lunch and childcare will be provided. Peart says attendees can bring resumes, but there will also be resume assistance on site.

How do you find job opportunities after prison?

Peart said he was inspired by LinkedIn, the social networking platform many Americans go to for job opportunities. After he was released from prison, he became a case worker in New York City at a shelter.

"Initially, that was sort of my giveback, too," he said. "That's when I was able to realize that the mental health, the non-profit sector was missing a big piece of technology and they were working like it was 1950. It just opened up my eyes. It allowed me to see, "wow, that's why so many people are homeless."

In 2020, he created ConConnect, a website based in Westchester County that primarily focused on helping formerly incarcerated people who are on parole or probation get a job. Peart, the CEO, said he went into creating the website with both the lived experience of being formerly incarcerated and the experience of helping those through social work.

ConConnect became the first website in the country where people could get out of prison, go through parole and connect to potential employers that would be friendly to their record. Peart created an AI-operated search filter that removes barriers based on their personal history and their individual needs.

"The AI is an algorithm that I built so it can help people," Peart said. "It's sort of me understanding like 'OK, people typically have barriers that can be removed if they knew the resources to remove them or if they just knew the flexible jobs.'"

"It's making sure a bank robber wouldn't see a job at a bank but they'd see a job elsewhere," he said. "Making sure a single mom or a single dad with barriers such as child care gets on a platform and sees child care, removing the barrier first before they go view the jobs or allowing them to see jobs with more flexible schedules."

Identifying opportunities for other communities

Peart said that after working as a case worker, he realized that there were many other marginalized communities that had difficulties getting jobs and benefits, like the unhoused, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.

So, he switched his focus and renamed the platform Untapped Solutions. He says the untapped community are all of those who face barriers to jobs, whether it's language, financial or even based on physical and mental abilities.

"I had a vision that I didn't really just want to help the formerly incarcerated anymore," Peart said. "I really wanted to focus on the homeless, underserved communities. Just all the other communities I was once part of. I started because I was formerly incarcerated but I realized that I was also homeless and all these other things, too."

Peart said Untapped Solutions currently has over 50,000 users and over 3,000 organizations utilizing the platform. He said it services around 15 different states. Through their expansion, Google invested in the company and is working to make the service available in over 150 languages. It has offices in Westchester, New York City and Atlanta. The expansion also helped them create a tool to help case workers with their clients.

"I realized that it wasn't just an issue with getting formerly incarcerated people jobs," he said. "We started to learn that there was an issue when they went to service providers or social services or housing and Medicaid. Because they have these records, that all the paperwork was triple."

He said the broken system is what allows people to return to prison after completing their parole because they don't have the resources to support themselves when they try to get back their lives.

"We developed a system for case workers, non-profits and agencies that assist the formerly incarcerated to where they can assist them faster, pretty much get them the things they need; jobs, vouchers, services, help to get them faster," Peart said. When Untapped Solutions launched the case management platform, he said it grew to about 2,000 organizations, "sort of overnight."

With the new company, Peart wanted to do something for his hometown community in Westchester County. That's how he came up with the idea for a job fair.

"We're a national company but you know, we do special things in the places we come from," Peart said. "So that's the point of it. It's more of my community giveback and stuff. I have a bunch of employers that are my customers. Why not bring them to the job fair to hire the people?"

"We're connected with parole and probation and they're giving people the day off to go to the job fair," Peart said. "That's all the people on parole and probation throughout Westchester County, which is hundreds of people.

Last year, Peart said the inaugural job fair saw over 70 people with only around six weeks of planning. This year, he expects over 100 people in attendance.

Westchester County partnered with Untapped Solutions

The Westchester County Department of Economic Development is partnering with Untapped Solutions to host this year’s job fair.

Bridget Gibbons, Director of Economic Development for the Westchester County government, said that Untapped Solutions has been making a great impact on the area. She said hundreds of people have already gotten jobs in Westchester through the service.

"Coming out of the pandemic, our employers came to us and said ‘We’re having trouble hiring people. We need the county to intervene and help us,’” Gibbons said. “So while the unemployment rate now is low, there are demographics in the area where that’s not true, like people with disabilities and formerly incarcerated and justice impacted people.”

Gibbons said that helping the untapped community get employment opportunities is a priority for County Executive George Latimer.

“We understand that helping formerly incarcerated folks find meaningful employment reduces recidivism and it really helps them have a better life,” she said. “We’ve heard from employers that that’s true that hiring formerly incarcerated folks is a good investment and we see it as an economic development engine. Getting more people hired helps our businesses grow, which helps the economy grow.”

How the platform is growing and can grow

Peart said that most of their customers come from caseworkers, parole and probation officers recommending the platform to their clients. But the biggest challenge for Peart was getting businesses on board to use their platform. He said many employers are wary of hiring people from untapped communities, not because they don't need their work, but they are concerned about the barriers restricting potential employees from the work.

"It was hard at the beginning because we were trying to get those "fancier" jobs in tech and finance," he said. "I started hearing employers say "Hey, I'm sort of worried about hiring this person. Do they have transportation?" "Hey, they just stepped out of prison. I'm not worried actually about the crime. I see the data. People don't commit new crimes at work but they don't have transportation. They don't have housing. Are they stable?"

Peart said that after he developed the AI-filtering software, more employers are taking advantage of the website's services.

"It's a great resource for their entry level positions, frontline positions, for companies that are looking to diversify at the executive level," he said. "It's a good tool to find BIPOC, Latin or females who want to work in positions. We painted it that way more so than just saying "Hey, here's your tools to hire the formerly incarcerated" when we were just ConConnect. Now, we're seeing definitely a lot more growth."

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Untapped Solutions aids in job search in marginalized communities