Center for Employment Opportunities

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) is dedicated to providing immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services to men and women with recent criminal convictions.

Relying on highly structured and tightly supervised programs, CEO works with participants to regain the skills and confidence needed for successful transitions to stable, productive lives. Their four-step process – incorporating life skills education, short-term paid transitional employment, full-time job placement and post-placement services – reaches people at their most vulnerable point, when they are newly released from incarceration or soon after conviction.

Data from 2020 showed Georgia spends more than $1 billion per year on prison expenditures equating to nearly $20,000 annually per person. Over 3,000 citizens return to metro Atlanta each year and the recidivism rate is greater than 30%. GreenLight recognized the significant social and economic cost this has on the community and brought CEO to metro Atlanta as their first investment.

With a boost from CEO, participants are less likely to become re-incarcerated and more likely to build a foundation for a stable, productive life for themselves and their families. Several studies testify to CEO’s success including a 16-22% reduction in recidivism and higher levels of immediate and long-term employment. Local businesses benefit too, gaining a well-trained, reliable workforce that provides the skills and work ethic needed to compete.