Accelerating Action and Awareness: Reflections from Fortinet’s International Women’s Day Event

I recently had the privilege of speaking at Fortinet’s Accelerate Action event in New York City, and it was incredible. On the Thursday before International Women’s Day, Fortinet brought together an impressive group of inspiring women, including many innovators, business leaders, and changemakers. We were invited to speak after the Fortinet team heard our presentation at the Women of the Channel (WOTC) event in December 2023.

I was thrilled to have another opportunity to share our message and introduce some incredible women from our Televerde community. Joining me this time were Tina Stine, an Inside Marketing Manager on our SAP team, and Kim Carney, a former Project Coordinator who recently returned home after incarceration.

Before introducing them, I set the stage with several powerful facts about incarceration:

• The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate globally, with 565 out of every 100,000 people currently incarcerated, totaling 1.8 million people today.
• One in three adults in America has a criminal record—that’s roughly 70 million people, the same number as college graduates.
• One in two Americans is impacted by having an immediate family member who is or has been incarcerated. That’s half the room, potentially the person right next to you.

For women, the statistics are even more striking:

• Women are the fastest-growing prison population, increasing 585% since 1980.
• 85% of incarcerated women have a root cause related to drug addiction or abusive relationships.
• 62% of women in state prisons and 80% in jails have children under 18, with their children having a 70% likelihood of becoming justice-impacted themselves.
• Nationally, about 71% of formerly incarcerated individuals are rearrested within five years. Why? Joblessness is the primary reason.

I wanted our audience to understand that these numbers aren’t just statistics; these things are impacting real lives.

When I passed the mic to Tina, she spoke candidly about her journey through repeated incarceration. She explained how Televerde gave her stability and purpose, helping her break the cycle of incarceration and build a meaningful career. Now, she gets to mentor and help others who were in her position.

Tina, like many other Televerde graduates, has achieved significant milestones since leaving prison. She even became one of five Televerde graduates who bought their first homes at around the same time—a clear example of the meaningful impact of employment after incarceration.

After Tina spoke, Kim captivated everyone immediately with her incredible personality and sense of humor. She shared how she was adopted at birth into a racially different family, and she spoke openly about her lifelong search for identity. Unfortunately, the people who finally made her feel accepted were also the people who influenced her onto a path leading to incarceration.

When she came to work for Televerde, Kim thrived professionally, managing complex multimillion-dollar programs. Yet, despite her proven skills, she’s faced significant employment barriers upon returning home due to her background.

Between the three of us I wanted to make clear to our audience one very important message: Our business model—employing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women—draws people in, but the reason organizations partner with us is the powerful results we consistently achieve. Over five years, Televerde has driven billions in pipeline and hundreds of millions in revenue for global companies like SAP and Pure Storage.

Our partnerships go beyond the typical vendor and client relationship. An example I always love to share is one of our program graduates who was hired by SAP. She has become a top performer in her role, and she was the only one out of a team of around 500 to be invited to join the Winner’s Circle (a HUGE deal!). It is because we deliver strong business outcomes for our clients that we can create more opportunities for women, both inside and outside of Televerde.

After our presentation, the reactions and conversations were overwhelmingly positive. However, there was one conversation that stood out from the rest. An executive from a major enterprise organization approached Kim after the presentation, saying she couldn’t believe nobody had hired her and enthusiastically stating she would hire Kim in a heartbeat. The kicker? Kim had already applied to their company and been rejected because of her record.

This is the moment that perfectly captured why these conversations matter—it’s about changing perspectives and policies, not just inspiring admiration.

Reflecting on the day, I’m deeply proud of Tina, Kim, and our entire Televerde community. Events like this remind me why these conversations are crucial. Sharing our stories isn’t just about feeling good—it’s about opening minds, challenging outdated assumptions, and creating real opportunities. And that’s exactly why I love doing it.