Brenda Palms Barber, CEO of the North Lawndale Employment Network on Chicago’s West Side, will be the featured guest on Brenda’s Secret Sauce, the first episode of Nonprofit “U”. Palms Barber moved to Chicago 15 years ago and started the North Lawndale Employment Network to assist returning citizens transition back to society through employment and other resources. She found a community that ranked in the top 6 in the state with respect to prisoners returning home. Today, her clients as a group have a recidivism rate of 6% compared to 43% for the country. Under her leadership, NLEN has grown from 2 to 21 employees, and provides job training and financial literacy to over 2,000 men and women. She launched the Sweet Beginnings social enterprise, which produces local honey and skincare products under the beelove brand, where 383 returning citizens have been employed, since 2007.
What’s in Brenda’s secret sauce? “Call-in to the show at (347) 884-8121 and find out”, Leonard said. Listeners should tune in to BlogTalkRadio.com/nonprofit_u.