John S. Shegerian, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), stressed the importance of giving the formerly incarcerated a “second chance for success” today at the 2008 Methamphetamine Summit “Me Not Meth: Become the Solution” at the Koinonia Christian Fellowship Center in Hanford, California.
Addressing a diverse audience of parents, elected officials, treatment specialists, law enforcement, clergy, social service professionals, business leaders and educators, Shegerian spoke as one of the event’s keynote presenters about the many societal and economic benefits made available when formerly incarcerated individuals have been rehabilitated and are given an opportunity to reenter the workforce.
“It’s an honor and privilege to have been asked by the organizers of the Methamphetamine Summit to share our story here today,” said Shegerian. “At ERI, we can lead the nation in recycling electronics, but it is also crucially important to us that we help lead the nation in recycling lives. We’re extremely proud of the employees on our team who have turned their lives around and we encourage other businesses to follow suit. We commend the Summit organizers for taking the time to shed light on the subject of the formerly incarcerated workforce and their tremendous potential at this conference addressing so many other important societal issues.”
“The tenets of successful sustainability are ‘People, Planet and Profits,’” added Shegerian. “At ERI, we modeled our business to build upon those tenets of sustainability — People, as in recycling lives and offering second chances, Planet, as in our recycling of 10 million pounds of e-waste each month ad running a genuinely green operation top to bottom, and Profits, where we have become our industry’s leader, making money every day while maintaining a sustainable company. Our company’s mantra of recycling electronics and recycling lives is a direct reflection of the sustainability practices and philosophies. It’s a model that I believe companies in any industry can adopt.”
Joining Shegerian on stage during part of the presentation was his colleague, Electronic Recycling e-waste Recycling Specialist, Mandingo Cain, a man who led a life of hard times in and out of the justice system and is now a successful executive at ERI. Cain shared some inspiring words about his own experience.
Other speakers at the Summit included representatives from the U. S. Attorney General’s Office, and a number of regional task forces, hospital systems and outreach groups from around the state.