On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, more than 50 workforce partners convened at Atlanta Metropolitan State College to gain a better understanding of Georgia’s justice impacted population and their unmet needs. This MAX Academy, powered by the Georgia Justice Project (GJP), provided tools and best practices for working with justice impacted clients, for helping employers navigate the hiring process with justice-impacted candidates, and for tapping into helpful resources to help both clients and employers. Experts joining the MAX Academy from the GJP included Legal Director Brenda Smeeton, Supervising Attorney Paige Jann, Social Worker & Reentry Employment Specialist Zandria Redding, and Social Services Co-Lead Rachel Gamblin.
Joining the GJP for our MAX Academy were Carolyn Johnson, Statewide Employment & Education Manager, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, to share insights on working with justice impacted clients, and Charlotte Garnes, Founder & Executive Director, ReNforce. to share insights on helping employers navigate the hiring process with justice impacted candidates.
The Academy also featured a best practices panel moderated by MAX vice chair Dana Inman, President & CEO of the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency. Joining Inman on the panel were Kellie Brownlow, Chief Mission Officer, First Step Staffing; Kirsten Ford, Regional Manager, Career Navigation, Goodwill of North Georgia; Cherri Harrison-West, Future Leaders Program Manager, STRIVE Atlanta; and Greg Washington, Director of Family Reunification/Reentry, City of Refuge.
Special thanks to everyone who came together for this MAX Academy! It was truly an engaging and inspirational day of exchanging insights, impactful tools and resources, best practices, and ideas for helping to connect our justice impacted neighbors with economic opportunity.
This MAX Academy was approved by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) as training counting toward continuing education hours (CEUs) for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs). Special thanks to Goodwill of North Georgia for serving as the sponsor with the CRCC for the MAX Academy. Special thanks to Aladdin for catering the event.
ABOUT THE MAX ACADEMY
Launched in 2014, the mission of MAX is to advance economic resilience in the Atlanta region by strengthening connections, collaborations, and practices among workforce developers and organizations engaged in workforce development.
The MAX Academy offers professional development and capacity building training workshops to help workforce development professionals develop new skills, learn best practices, and engage in peer-to-peer learning. The MAX Academy is led by MAX board member Dr. Ray Perren, Deputy Commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia and advised by the MAX Provider Council chaired by Jeannie Ross, Director of Workforce Development, City of Refuge.
Both the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP) and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) recognize training programs held through the MAX Academy as relevant training hours for their certification programs. Hours spent attending MAX Academy workshops can count as training hours for earning a Certified Workforce Professional (CWP) credential from IAWP and also as professional development (continuing education) hours for CWP recertification. For NAWDP’s Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP), NAWDP will accept MAX Academy training hours toward the professional development hours required for CWDP recertification.