North Lawndale Employment Network
Founded in 1999, North Lawndale Employment Network’s mission is to improve the earnings potential of the North Lawndale, Chicago IL community through innovative employment initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life.
North Lawndale Employment Network’s (NLEN) is a social justice organization and workforce program that uses innovative employment initiatives to undo the devastating impact of historic disinvestment on Chicago’s West Side. NLEN was founded to address a vital community need: access to employment opportunities that provide family-sustaining wages. The per capita income in North Lawndale, our target neighborhood, is just over $12,000 with an unemployment rate of 25%. Participants returning from incarceration have spent anywhere from 30 months to 30+ years imprisoned.
Today, NLEN serves more than 2,500 people annually, helping them gain new skills, improve their self-worth, secure jobs, and become financially secure. NLEN has grown into a premiere community-based workforce development agency and serves as a national model for establishing and sustaining a successful, mission-driven social enterprise.
Tiana Conley
P&G Alumni Grant Champion
Tiana Conley
10 years in U.S. Brand Management
Tiana has been actively involved with NLEN for the past two years, joining the board of directors in September 2020. During that time Tiana has helped NLEN and Sweet Beginnings transitional job program develop its marketing and brand strategies, and led work sessions for NLEN staff to refine the organization’s brand statements. Additionally, she served on NLEN’s 16th Annual Sweet Beginnings Tea committee and helped NLEN exceed its $300,000 fundraising goal.
Tiana writes: “Since 2008 Sweet Beginnings has employed more than 500 men and women committed to turning their lives around. The recidivism rate (return to criminal system) for former Sweet Beginnings employees is below 8%, compared to the national average of 40% and an Illinois average of 55%. It’s easy to understand why I’ve been hooked by NLEN since the moment I got involved with the organization, feeling deeply compelled both by the purpose-driven mission and the effective outcomes of the organization. NLEN knows the work will never be done until systemic barriers are broken down so that every individual and the community can collectively thrive.”
Sweet Beginnings is a social enterprise and transitional jobs program founded in 2004 and wholly owned by the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN). It is a year-round business that produces beelove®, a Certified Naturally Grown and all-natural line of raw, urban honey and honey-infused skincare products.
Historically, Sweet Beginnings has offered three-month transitional job opportunities to graduates of NLEN’s U-Turn Permitted program, which provides job readiness and cognitive behavioral skills training to returning citizens. NLEN is currently in the process of designing a U-Turn Permitted/Sweet Beginnings Blended program that offers job readiness training and transitional employment in tandem. This model would allow clients to complete all components of the U-Turn Permitted curriculum while also applying these lessons and earning income through transitional employment at Sweet Beginnings.
NLEN is committed to solving the problem of unemployment among black men and women with criminal backgrounds by providing reentry services, job training, and three-month transitional jobs in the honey and skincare business. When no one else will give returning citizens a second chance, Sweet Beginnings becomes the “first employer,” presenting participants with the opportunity to build a work history and develop skills transferable to jobs in green industries, manufacturing, food and customer service, and more. They recently hired their 500th employee, with more than 75% of its workers securing unsubsidized jobs and 85% keeping them for the long-term. With these jobs, black men and women restore their sense of self-worth, regain family connections, and meaningfully contribute to their communities.
NLEN will use the $15,000 grant from the P&G Alumni Foundation to support two frontline positions for Sweet Beginnings: Lead Operations Assistant and Operations Assistant. Both are staffed by Sweet Beginnings graduates who serve as role models for current participants and provide guidance and support to about 12 participants as they navigate their reentry into the workforce. For many Sweet Beginnings clients, the professional relationships they form with Sweet Beginnings staff are vital to their success.
“Truly a Sweet Beginning”
Charlotte
Charlotte was incarcerated for 20 years. She found North Lawndale Employment Network upon her release and received transitional employment at Sweet Beginnings upon completing the U-Turn Permitted program. Charlotte excelled in her position at Sweet Beginnings and is currently the Production Specialist. In her role, Charlotte trains transitional employees and works to maintain the high-quality standards that our beelove® products are known for. Charlotte is a testament to what can happen when returning citizens have true second chances to create sweet beginnings for themselves, their families, and their communities.