Located in downtown Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries is the world’s largest reentry organization for formerly incarcerated gang members.

Case Study

Expanding employment pathways to increase opportunity

Amplifying Homeboy Industries’ impact to build bridges to brighter futures through job placement, skills training, and holistic support

Opportunity

Offering avenues to better lives

For those leaving incarceration behind, the path to a fresh start is often paved with economic barriers. Securing a job becomes a daunting task, making it challenging to earn a living and reintegrate into society. Founded in Los Angeles in 1988, Homeboy Industries (HBI) supports formerly incarcerated individuals, particularly those who have been involved in gangs, and helps them secure and maintain gainful employment and avoid recidivism. It offers education and legal services, workforce development, substance use disorder and mental health support, and more.

HBI’s proven model held vast potential for broader impact, but the nonprofit needed support to scale its initiatives and share its expertise with others.

Hear from Homeboy Industries' founder, Father Greg Boyle; senior advisor and former CEO, Tom Vozzo; HBI program alum and current UC Berkeley law student, Johanna Carbajal; and the McKinsey team about our partnership to scale Homeboy Industries' impact through storytelling and workforce development.

Solution

Building on a proven track record of success

As HBI aimed to expand its impact, it partnered with McKinsey on three areas:

Effectively communicating HBI’s story and impact. The team developed and published a white paper to illustrate HBI’s impact to stakeholders and potential partners, supporting its efforts to significantly grow grant funding. McKinsey also featured HBI Senior Advisor and former CEO Tom Vozzo in its “Author Talks” series.
Defining and documenting HBI’s model. By codifying HBI’s best-in-class approach to workforce development and sharing it with over 60 organizations through the Global Homeboy Network, peers benefited from HBI’s experience in their own programming and operations; 80 percent also expressed interest in adopting the hub model.
Supporting expansion. The team launched a workforce development hub in Los Angeles and identified initiatives to potentially quadruple HBI’s social enterprise revenue, enabling the nonprofit to serve even more people. Through a yearlong fellowship, a McKinsey consultant also collaborated with HBI leaders on strategic areas.