As part of Second Chance Month, The Fortune Society is joining the Grow with Google Career Readiness for Reentry program, an initiative between Google and five nonprofits to provide free digital skills and job readiness training to formerly justice-involved individuals. The program’s training will focus on fundamental digital skills such as how to apply for jobs online and create a resume, along with more advanced topics including entrepreneurship and business budgeting. In total, the program will train 10,000 participants this year. 

Staff from Google will be working with Fortune’s Employment Services Department, who have developed and led comprehensive job readiness programs for years. Whether it be through mock job interviews, soft skills training, or certification in the culinary arts, Fortune has a long history of helping our clients find career success after incarceration. Through the Grow with Google program, we will be able to adapt our successful job readiness training to address the growing digital divide among the justice-involved.

Alongside other program partners, Fortune collaborated with Google and the program’s nonprofit partners to identify the needs of returning individuals, resulting in five program Learning Paths: (1) Getting Started with the Basics, (2) Job Search, (3) Job Readiness, (4) Online Safety, and (5) “Next Step” Job Readiness Skills. 

The 3-week training course is led by our team of expert Vocational Instructors, many of whom are formerly justice-involved Fortune clients, and is coupled with job placement support so graduating participants can access quality jobs. 

To learn more about our partnership in the Grow with Google Career Readiness for Reentry program, visit Google’s blog post here. For more information on our Employment Services, go here.