Nooze Hounds: Patrice Funderburg Talks Second-Chance Employment

In Episode 38 of our Nooze Hounds podcast, we talked with Patrice Funderburg, executive director at The Center for Community Transitions and founder of Educate to Engage. 

In 2016, jolted into action by the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Patrice Funderburg left her 25-year career in corporate HR to pursue her own path in the social justice field. She launched Educate to Engage, a consulting firm with a focus on criminal justice work, and began leading the free, six-week classes around The New Jim Crow.

In January 2020, she took over as executive director at The Center for Community Transitions, a reentry organization that offers services to justice-involved people — those with histories of incarceration or criminal records — including a 30-person dorm for women participating in the state’s work-release program.

Patrice talked with us about human-first language, her pathway to criminal justice work, how COVID-19 has affected The Center for Community Transitions’ work-release program and new partnerships between local employers and advocacy groups promoting second-chance employment. We also argue over the meaning of the word “juxtapose,” though it later came to our attention that no one was right. You can read more about Patrice’s work in our latest news feature. 

Remember you can catch us on Spotify and other places where you find podcasts, and be sure to check out Queen City Podcast Network for a slew of other great Charlotte podcasts that aren’t quite as good as ours but pretty damn close. Find past Nooze Hounds episodes here. 

Become part of the Nerve: Help us continue to connect community and culture and tell the overlooked stories of everyday Charlotte. Get better connected and become a monthly donor to support our mission and opt-in to our email newsletter.  And if you’re a patron of the arts in Charlotte, subscribe to the paper for the most in-depth coverage of the local scene you’ll find in town.