Confronting Social Injustice

ewalsh • November 16, 2015

For full WNPR segment details and related content, please click here.

Young people coming out of college today have a strong desire to do good in the world, but it’s not easy to find jobs with a social purpose. Instead, many are starting their own businesses, combining an entrepreneurial spirit with a social mission.

Frustrated by the inability of government and the private sector to address big social problems, like poverty and inequality, these social entrepreneurs use profits instead of fundraising to support their social cause.

This hour, we learn more about their work. But first, we take a closer look at a phenomenon known as “prison gerrymandering” and its impact on state and local democracy.

GUESTS:

Orlando Rodriguez – Associate Commission Analyst at the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission
Peter Wagner – Executive Director of the Prison Policy Initiative
Kirc Savage – Co-founder of Send Help Back Home; business manager for UTC
Bashaun Brown – Former student at the Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, pursuing an entrepreneurial venture called TRAP House
Hannah Sokoloff-Rubin – Student at Wesleyan University; co-coordinator of the Wesleyan Doula Project
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

John Dankosky and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

By awalsh February 13, 2026
Dear reSET Community, The Board of Directors today announces the departure of Sarah Bodley as Executive Director of reSET in a planned transition later this year. The Board has immense gratitude for Sarah and all her contributions over the years. Over the last seven years, Sarah has built an amazing foundation for the organization and she leaves reSET in a strong position for continued growth and service. Sarah joined reSET in 2018 and over the past seven years has solidified and expanded reSET’s mission of supporting impact-driven entrepreneurs throughout Connecticut. Here are a few key highlights from Sarah’s time here: Facilitated the acquisition of Collab New Haven, expanding reSET’s footprint to a statewide geography and further enhancing our mission Developed and implemented new core programs including the award-winning Food Incubator, as well as the Food Accelerator, Retail Incubator, Measure What Matters, and Digital Marketing Mastermind Established reSET as a founding partner of the Hartford Culinary Collaborative, enabling greater connectivity and cooperation among food-centric support organizations in our region Doubled the organization’s budget to over 1 Million Dollars, securing multi-year State government grants Won the prestigious Neighborhood Builders Award from Bank of America, and the Leadership Greater Hartford Polaris Community Award in 2022 Established an endowment fund thanks to support from the Zachs Family Foundation to support the long term sustainability of reSET’s mission Over the coming months, we will be continuing our search to find reSET's next Executive Director. Sarah will stay onboard through June to ensure a smooth handoff to our next leader, and will be available as a resource throughout 2026. It is the Board of Directors’ priority, along with Sarah's, to make this transition as smooth as possible to continue the great work Sarah has helped us do over her tenure. The Executive Director’s Job Posting can be found at this link, and we invite you to keep in mind any potential candidates in your community or network that you think might be a great fit. The Board of Directors wishes Sarah the best of luck in her future endeavors. We are appreciative of the dedication and enthusiasm she has given to reSET over the last seven years, particularly navigating our organization seamlessly during the historic times of the pandemic, changes in administration, and an ever-evolving landscape of opportunity for entrepreneurs. We are confident that with Sarah’s support, this transition will be a smooth one for our Connecticut entrepreneurs, partners, and generous supporters. We look forward to continuing our growth and to serving our mission of supporting the social enterprise sector. If you have any questions or concerns during this transition, please don’t hesitate to reach out via contacting admin@resetco.org to get in touch with the board. Sincerely, Ali Lazowski + Dave Menard, co-chairs, reSET Board of Directors
By awalsh February 10, 2026
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Listen in to the replay of John Voket of Connoisseur Media's interview of reSET Food Program Manager Katrice Claudio and Program Manager Ndubisi Okeke that aired on Sunday July 6, 2025. They talked about the reSET programs that are enrolling for the fall--the Food Accelerator for food businesses looking to scale, and the Retail Incubator for early stage product-based businesses looking to ramp up for holiday markets in Connecticut. Listen here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8745230-reset-fall-program-preview The interview aired on the award-winning "For the People" show on Sunday, July 6 on WEBE 108 FM, STAR 99.9, WPLR FM and THe VOICE of Connecticut and on the podcast.
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