On October 7-8, 2024, the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, the Harris School of Public Policy, and NORC at the University of Chicago hosted a national meeting on fair chance hiring. Participants represented came from multiple sectors – fair chance practitioners (employers and nonprofits), policymakers, researchers, and funders – and gathered in Chicago to: 

• Explore the impact of recent changes in fair chance hiring practice and policy
• Catalyze new knowledge-building that will advance fair chance policy and practice
• Grow the emerging field of fair chance hiring by advancing research, by involving scholars who are still forming their research and teaching platforms, and by including justice-impacted individuals in all aspect of the convening.

Each session of the conference began with a keynote address, followed by a panel and then a generative, facilitated conversation across all participants to identify research topics that could advance fair chance policy and/or practice.

More than 180 individuals from across the U.S. and beyond attended. In all sectors of participants, and across all roles in the conference (speakers, panelists, organizing committee members, and researchers) justice-impacted individuals were included.

The conference succeeded in generating dozens of research ideas. Ten of these ideas, collectively covering all elements of fair chance hiring, are detailed in this report.

In addition to serving as a catalyst for developing new knowledge and practices in fair chance hiring, the conference generated new personal connections across sectors. Our hope is that these new relationships, along with the ideas contained in this report and others discussed at the conference, will advance the field of fair chance hiring and expand employment opportunities for individuals with arrest and conviction records. The tens of millions of Americans with records, the employers who need talented workers, the communities where these workers live, and our regional and national economies depend on it.

For a deeper dive into the insights and research ideas from the conference, read the full report here.