PROVIDENCE – On Wednesday, a cohort of nine men will graduate from “Pivot the Hustle,” a program based at Roger Williams University that helps Rhode Island inmates transition into productive careers.
This will be the program’s third graduating class since its launch in January 2016 by the university’s School of Continuing Studies and the state Department of Corrections. The program, which uses no taxpayer funding, saw its first group of female graduates in December.
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RWU President Donald J. Farish said the program, “supplies inmates with the skills necessary to help them get their lives back on track. Every person who can follow the path to financial independence, rather than a return path to prison, not only has his or her self-respect back, but also does not cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each year to incarcerate.”
Adriana I. Dawson, assistant dean of RWU’s School of Continuing Studies, who oversees the Center for Workforce and Professional Development and serves as a program instructor said, “The end of the program is always bittersweet for me. I have gotten to know these men over the course of the last couple of months, and I know how committed they are to turning their lives around. My hope is that employers recognize this population as a potential talent pool and are just as willing to support their successful transition with jobs on the other end.”
According to Dawson, “Pivot the Hustle” builds on prison-based education programs to develop the “soft skills” that make former inmates more employable. Participants are asked to analyze where they are in life and where they want to be as the program guides them through communicating with an employer, searching for jobs and matching their skills with job opportunities. In addition to improving individual lives, the program aims at bolstering the state’s economy by cutting down on recidivism and contributing to the workforce.
Wednesday’s ceremony will take place on RWU’s Providence campus at 1 Empire St. beginning at 6 p.m. in room 434. Speakers include A.T. Wall, Department of Corrections director, Jamie Scurry, dean of RWU’s School of Continuing Studies, and Andrew Workman, RWU provost.
Nicole Dotzenrod is a PBN staff writer.
