A Fair Chance

  • Made By CUP With:
  • Community Partners
  • Tags:
  • Labor,
  • Court System

Supporting formerly incarcerated people in New York City to understand their rights and protections against employer discrimination.

VOCAL-NY members give feedback on a design draft.

Finding a job after you’re released from prison is difficult. Some employers discriminate against people with criminal records, and explaining a gap in your resume is tricky. In 2015, New York City passed the Fair Chance Act to protect formerly incarcerated New Yorkers from employment discrimination, but figuring out what employers can and can’t do under the legislation can be confusing. What is and isn’t legal for employers to ask when hiring? What are your options if you think that an employer has treated you unfairly because of your criminal record?

Social services organization VOCAL-NY collaborated with CUP, designer Lizania Cruz, and illustrator Natalie Ramirez to create A Fair Chance, a fold-out poster that helps formerly incarcerated people understand their rights under the Fair Chance Act, advocate for themselves, and hold employers accountable. The guide also gives steps that people can take to strengthen their employment applications and connect to professional services to support them.

VOCAL-NY distributes "A Fair Chance" at a launch event.
Mark Torrey and Ingrid Haftel (CUP) meet with VOCAL-NY and designer Lizania Cruz.

Check out the Project

The cover and poster of A Fair Chance

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Project Collaborators

CUP

Ingrid Haftel
Mark Torrey

Community Partner

VOCAL-NY

Alyssa Aguilera


Special Thanks

Christine Gaspar, Oscar Nuñez, Jazlyn Patricio-Archer, Ray Box, Ronald Day, Jeffery Foster, Paul Levine, Elizabeth Owens, Starsky Rivas, Daryl Robinson, Eddie Rodrigues, Carl Stubbs, Judy Whiting, Jawanza Williams

Product Details

8″ × 11″ color pamphlet; unfolds to 22″ × 32″ poster

Funding Support

Support for this project was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Aairs in partnership with the City Council.

General support for CUP’s programs is provided in part by the David Rockefeller Fund, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, New York Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.