When it comes to workforce innovation, Texas may soon become a proving ground for a national experiment in inclusive hiring. The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) is scaling its employer-focused effort to connect justice-impacted veterans with meaningful jobs—fueled by a $1.5 million grant from Sam’s Club.
The initiative aims to provide Texas employers with resources, traininPRg, and action tools to identify and recruit veterans with criminal records—individuals who often find themselves locked out of the job market despite having valuable skills and leadership experience.
“No one who served our country should be shut out of opportunity,” said Maha Jweied, CEO of RBIJ. “Hiring veterans is not only the right thing to do—it’s smart business.”
The Veteran Workforce Paradox
Texas has the highest number of incarcerated veterans in the nation. Many eventually return home, but barriers like restrictive hiring policies, background checks, and limited employer awareness leave them sidelined.
That exclusion carries a steep price tag: according to RBIJ, underemployment among Texans with criminal records costs the state roughly $32 billion in lost wages annually.
Beyond economics, there’s a human cost. Veterans face additional hurdles—housing instability, service-related trauma, and gaps in support systems—that compound the difficulty of reentry.
“Those strengths don’t just disappear when someone becomes involved in the justice system—but too often, opportunity does,” said Brigadier General David “Mac” MacEwen, Director of the Veterans Justice Commission at the Council on Criminal Justice.
From Second Chances to Smart Business
For employers, the message is clear: expanding hiring practices to include justice-impacted veterans isn’t charity—it’s strategy. In a labor market still feeling the sting of skills shortages, companies that tap this underutilized talent pool could see a competitive edge.
RBIJ’s Texas rollout includes technical assistance, hiring playbooks, and hands-on guidance for organizations ready to rethink recruitment. An upcoming webinar, “From Service to Second Chances: The Role of Business in Veteran Reentry,” scheduled for November 18, will bring together leaders from the Council on Criminal Justice Veterans Justice Commission and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to help employers get started.
With Sam’s Club’s backing, RBIJ’s initiative underscores a growing trend in HR tech and workforce development: data-driven inclusion. As more employers adopt tech-enabled hiring solutions and fair-chance platforms, initiatives like this one could signal a broader shift toward skills-based employment and second-chance hiring models across corporate America.
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