We Are Humans — The Table
The people who best understand what fair chance hiring needs to look like are the people who've lived the problem. The Table is where they come to build the solution. A curated co-creation community — impacted people, employers, and system workers — designing the programs, policies, and incentives that actually change outcomes.
Apply for the next cohort →What this is
Most programs designed to help justice-impacted people are designed about them — by researchers, policymakers, and executives who've never navigated a background check, sat across from a PO, or had to explain a gap in their employment history.
The Table is different. It is designed by the people who know the problem from the inside. Selected participants work alongside employers and system workers in structured 90-day cohorts — not to advise, but to build. Every cohort produces something concrete: a program design, a policy recommendation, a pledge framework, a product feature.
What gets built at The Table gets built into the platform. The ideas that come out of The Table become the programs that We Are Humans takes to employers, governments, and investors. This is real influence over something real.
Who sits at The Table
People who have personally navigated the justice system — incarceration, supervision, reentry, the job search with a record. At least 40% of every cohort. Not as token representatives. As the people whose knowledge is most essential and most often excluded from these conversations.
HR directors, hiring managers, small business owners, workforce development leads. People with the authority to actually change hiring practices — and who want to understand what fair chance hiring needs to look like to work for everyone at the table.
Probation and parole officers, reentry counselors, public defenders, social workers, legal aid advocates. People who see the gap between policy and reality every day — and who know exactly where the system fails the people it's supposed to serve.
How it works
A short application — no credentials required, no resume. Six questions about who you are, what you know, and what you'd bring to the conversation. We read every application carefully. We're not selecting for polish. We're selecting for substance.
Cohorts of 20–30 people, curated for diversity of perspective — offense type, industry, geography, role in the system. Every cohort is majority directly impacted. We notify all applicants within 30 days of the cohort close date.
Monthly virtual sessions. A private community space for ongoing conversation between sessions. Working groups organized by theme. One optional in-person convening for those who can attend. All sessions recorded and summarized for members who can't make a particular session.
Every cohort produces concrete deliverables — not just conversation. A program design. A pledge framework. A policy recommendation. A product feature specification. The output of each cohort is published publicly under the names of the people who built it.
Every cohort member becomes a We Are Humans Founding Fellow — publicly recognized, permanently credited for what they helped build. Alumni of The Table are the first to hear about new opportunities, partnerships, and roles as the organization grows.
Starting points — not endpoints
These are half-formed provocations — things we think are worth exploring. The Table's job is to pressure-test them, improve them, kill the bad ones, and come up with better ones we haven't thought of yet.
For employers
Companies commit to paying fair chance hires at or above the median wage for the role — publicly badged and audited. Eliminates the exploitation dynamic where desperation gets punished.
For employers
A genuine evaluation period — no termination for record-related reasons. In exchange the platform provides wraparound support during that window. Investing in success, not just compliance.
For employers
Not just hire — commit to a pathway. Documented promotion consideration within 18 months. Because "we'll hire you but you'll never move up" is a different kind of trap.
For job seekers
Supervision documents written in legal language, translated into plain English with specific job eligibility guidance. Understanding your own conditions shouldn't require a lawyer.
For job seekers
A small fund — $200–500 — for employed members facing a one-time crisis. Car repair. First month's rent. A childcare gap. Most jobs are lost to single crises, not poor performance.
For job seekers
Automatic mapping of someone's conviction against expungement eligibility in their state. Millions are eligible and don't know it. A cleared record changes every conversation.
For the system
Formal agreements with diversion courts where We Are Humans employment satisfies the employment condition of sentencing. A trusted pipeline that serves courts, job seekers, and employers simultaneously.
Big swing
An annual public ranking of companies by verified fair chance hiring outcomes — not self-reported. The ESG metric that doesn't exist yet for this issue. Public recognition for the leaders. Pressure for the laggards.
Big swing
A social impact bond where investors fund operations with the expectation that reduced recidivism generates government cost savings — and those savings are the return. Aligns every incentive in the system.
These are starting points. The best ideas at The Table will be ones nobody in this room has thought of yet — because they'll come from people who've actually lived the problem. That's the whole point.
Apply — Cohort 1
No resume. No credentials required. Six questions — answer them however feels right. Short answers are fine. We're not looking for polish. We're looking for people who have something real to contribute.
Applications for Cohort 1 are open now. We'll notify all applicants within 30 days of the close date.
Your application is in. We read every one carefully — no algorithms, no filters. You'll hear from us within 30 days. Thank you for wanting to build this with us.