Justice Champion Spotlight: Dave’s Killer Bread

For our end-of-year Spotlight we wanted to profile a company that has long been a vanguard of the justice-impacted community, and the amazing work they are doing to help returning citizens: Dave’s Killer Bread. 

Born into a family of bakers, Dave Dahl was incarcerated for a total of 15 years. During his last sentence however, he had a pivotal moment of clarity when he realised, he wanted to more. Welcomed back into the small family bakery upon release, he worked tirelessly to make amazing breads unlike anything else on the market. 

Now, they do more than just bake incredible loaves. Inspired by Dave’s story of redemption, Dave’s Killer Bread are a proud Second Chance Employer, looking beyond an individual’s past and hiring the best person for the job, regardless of criminal history.

They do more than hire. The Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation, headed up by Executive Director Genevieve Martin, was created in 2015 to inspire and equip other businesses to adopt Second Chance Employment. To do this, they utilise the experiences of their champion employers and justice impacted employees - as well as a bench of experts spanning human rights, law, insurance, change management and more.

By sharing information and promoting understanding about hiring and employing people with criminal records, they’re converting previously hesitant businesses and, in doing so, reducing the negative impact of recidivism in America.

In 2021 Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation is rolling out more tools for employers to embrace and adopt Second Chance Employment including; Second Chance Corporate Cohort, Second Chance Bootcamp and Second Chance HUB.