With over 600,000 inmates released from U.S. prisons each year, Bobbi Johnson, CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest (Spokane, WA) recognized early on the challenges this population would face in getting and keeping jobs. Under her leadership, the Spokane Goodwill has spearheaded two programs targeting the re-integration of ex-offenders in the Spokane area that are producing stellar results.  Johnson’s innovative programming wins Goodwill Industries International’s 2005 Robert E. Watkins Award for Mission Advancement.

In 2003, the Goodwill was awarded a contract to provide job placement and other services to newly released ex-offenders. The Community Gateway program has since exceeded its contractual goals, generating a 90 percent job placement rate and an 84 percent job retention rate.  Goodwill has also extended the program’s geographic reach into the rural communities surrounding Spokane.  In 2004, Community Gateway served 284 recently released offenders.  Johnson and her staff identified job placement as the main goal, realizing that employment and income are the single biggest contributors to individual stability and ability to avoid re-offending and being incarcerated.

“Bobbi Johnson’s leadership and innovative programming has helped her staff develop programs that target and address the needs of specific populations.  In her efforts to help people find jobs, she’s also strengthened relationships with other agencies and organizations,” says George W. Kessinger, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.  “This program model is also notable because it can be tailored and replicated in other markets.”

Driven by Goodwill’s initial success, Johnson encouraged her staff to further bid on other contracts.  Goodwill now serves as the Community Advisor for the Going Home Initiative, a federally funded project for serious and violent young offenders.  In this role, Goodwill is responsible for coordinating the agencies and individuals working on the neighborhood reentry teams that mentor ex-offenders as they become reintegrated in their communities.  Johnson will be honored at Goodwill’s annual meeting on Tuesday, June 28.

The award honors a Goodwill leader (CEO, staff or volunteer) who has made an innovative contribution (service or process) to the advancement of the Goodwill mission.  The contribution may involve career services or a related field, and should have a lasting effect on the ability of one or more Goodwill organizations to serve people with disabilities or other barriers to employment.  The award is named for Robert E. and Charlotte Watkins, who together dedicated more than 100 years of service to the Goodwill movement.