MyImpact Challenge Student Provides Hope, Second Chances

<p>After working alongside previously incarcerated individuals at his family’s bakery, Sebastian Tan understood the importance of second chances.</p>

<p>Tan, a student at Sewickley Academy in Sewickley, Pa., created OutsideConnection, a website to help reentrants connect with resources and job opportunities. His efforts led to Tan receiving first prize and $7,500 from the Bill of Rights Institute’s <a href="https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/my-impact-challenge">MyImpact Challenge</a>.</p>

<p>MyImpact Challenge is BRI’s annual civic engagement contest, which encourages students to develop service projects that benefit their communities and advance constitutional principles such as liberty, equality, and justice.</p>

<p>“When I started OutsideConnection, our family business was one of the only businesses in Pittsburgh that would hire reentrants,” Tan wrote in his MyImpact Challenge essay. “It was incredibly difficult for them to find jobs, and they were continually turned away from positions because of their criminal records.”</p>

<p>Tan partnered with other nonprofits and businesses with OutsideConnection to create an easier path for formerly incarcerated individuals to find and connect with job opportunities. To date, the website currently hosts more than 650 job listings.</p>

<p>Tan’s organization also worked with the Allegheny County Reentry Coalition to host a job fair that attracted more than 140 participants from across Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>You can <a href="https://bri-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/Project+Report+-+Tan.pdf">learn more about Tan’s project here</a>. Or visit the <a href="https://www.outsideconnection.org/">OutsideConnection website</a> for more information.</p>