About Center for Employment Opportunities
Provides immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services exclusively to people recently released from incarceration to build career capital and financial stability and increase socioeconomic mobility.
Focus Areas
Reentry employment servicesJob training and skills developmentCash assistance for returning citizensInclusive hiring initiativesPolicy advocacy and systems changeResearch and impact evaluation
Who They Fund
justice-involved individuals (including formerly incarcerated)SNAP recipients / low-income benefit recipientscommunity-based service providers (as subaward/partner capacity recipients)
Funding Style
About Center for Employment Opportunities
Center for Employment Opportunities Inc centers its grantmaking on people recently released from incarceration, pairing employment services with wraparound supports that are meant to build career capital and financial stability. A distinctive part of the organization’s work is the way it operates through partner networks and subawards, extending services through community-based organizations rather than only direct delivery. In California, it served as a Hub and lead partner on a $6.9 million California Workforce Development Board HIRE award to expand reentry services statewide. Another major strand is its Returning Citizen Stimulus work, a cash-assistance model built with a network of reentry organizations to help people during the vulnerable period after release. The foundation also backs job-training pathways, including paid apprenticeship tracks and workforce development collaborations tied to union apprenticeship pipelines. Recent grants show that its funding reaches groups such as Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Los Angeles and Starting Over Inc in Corona, both for expanding case populations and employment services for justice-involved individuals. The overall pattern is a mix of direct service support, provider capacity building, and coordinated reentry infrastructure.
What Center for Employment Opportunities Funds
Reentry employment services are the core of the portfolio. Recent grants include $150,519 to Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Los Angeles and $143,128 to Starting Over Inc in Corona, both described as subawards to expand case populations and provide intensive employment services to justice-involved individuals. Workforce training also appears through paid apprenticeship pathways: the Emerging Leaders Program includes a 12-week paid apprenticeship track for justice-impacted trainees, and the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council collaboration uses a Governor’s Workforce Development Grant to expand paid training toward union apprenticeship programs in Buffalo, Rochester, and Albany. SNAP Employment & Training is another recurring line of work. CEO supported providers such as Dry Bones Denver, 1st Step Male Diversion Program Inc, Just the Beginning Inc, and Resonance Center for Women to deliver SNAP E&T services and complete required administrative activities.
How Center for Employment Opportunities Gives
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.4M
Total Assets
$85.7M
Total Revenue
$116.3M
Total Expenses
$124.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $11K and $96K, with a median of $29K.
25th Percentile
$11K
Median
$29K
75th Percentile
$96K
Geographic Reach
Regional3 states funded
About 0% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
SAMUEL SCHAEFFER
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