Steve Preston is the CEO of Goodwill Industries. Though Goodwill is known for big stores where people can donate clothes and buy them secondhand, those stores are just the first level of what Goodwill Industries are about. Those stores fund an international organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who face barriers in their employment.

Steve joins Jay to discuss the ways Goodwill Industries support veterans and individuals who lack job experience, an education, or face employment challenges, such as those people who are formerly incarcerated.

Today's episode was produced by Tani Levitt and Mijon Zulu. To check out more episodes or to learn more about the show, you can visit our website Allaboutchangepodcast.com. If you like our show, spread the word, tell a friend or family member, or leave us a review on your favorite podcasting app. We really appreciate it. All About Change is produced by the Ruderman Family Foundation.

Episode Chapters

0:00 intro

1:02 The Goodwill you don’t know

4:33 The troubling reality of work reintegration for formerly incarcerated folks

10:00 How Steve brings his public-sector experience to Goodwill 

11:17 Goodwill’s employment centers

15:51 The interplay between Goodwill’s national and local arms

24:07 The case for minimizing recidivism becoming a cross-party cause

27:05 Goodbye

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Looking for more insights into the world of activism? Be sure to check out Jay’s brand new book, Find Your Fight, in which Jay teaches the next generation of activists and advocates how to step up and bring about lasting change. You can find Find Your Fight wherever you buy your books, and you can learn more about it at ⁠⁠⁠www.jayruderman.com⁠⁠⁠.