As an employment counselor, Elizabeth helps people find good jobs, but her own path to a job she loves was anything but smooth. Inspired by a post 9/11 television commercial, she enlisted in the military out of high school. After her service, she struggled to find her footing and was incarcerated for five years. In prison, she participated in a program that earned her certifications in administrative assistance and industrial cleaning.  With her work record and certifications, she was recommended for a job upon her release at a 5-star hotel where she thrived. Since then, Elizabeth worked in several other jobs before finding her current role with a nonprofit.  She enjoys building relationships with employers and supporting job seekers, many of whom were also justice-involved.

This job, however, was not Elizabeth’s first choice. With a certificate in administrative work and fluency in Spanish, she was certain she could be successful as a medical transcriptionist so she enrolled in a medical transcription degree program at a community college. Disqualified from loans and grants by her criminal record, she paid for the program out of her own pocket. Over a year into the program, her program counselor told her that she could never work in the medical field because of her criminal record. “I was pretty much in there and was starting to try to find out about internships or part-time jobs … It is really discouraging that the counselors at college, when you’re signing up will not tell you ahead of time, ‘Hey, you might not be able to work here doing this job. They just tell you ‘yes, sign up!’” She now helps formerly incarcerated individuals avoid these barriers and pursue their dreams. She says, “to have a criminal background, have no education, but be a social worker and be a teacher at a college? I think any of us can do it.”