Televerde’s staff believes in second chances.
For more than 30 years, the Phoenix-based multinational sales and marketing organization has provided incarcerated women from five U.S. prisons with on-the-job training.
The women are hired, compensated, skilled in the basics of sales and marketing, and certified in technologies such as Outreach, Marketo, Salesforce and Eloqua. Approximately 60% of the Televerde global workforce is incarcerated women.
According to Prison Fellowship, which spearheads April’s Second Chance Month, 70 million Americans are living with a criminal record and facing barriers when reentering society. More than 1,100 organizations, churches and businesses have joined Prison Fellowship in support of brighter futures for people with a criminal record.
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According to company data, the results are hard to ignore. In 2025, 88% of Televerde graduates secured full‑time professional employment within 90 days of release, and 93% left prison with active Salesforce, Marketo or other enterprise certifications. The recidivism rate for graduates remains under 5%, compared with a national three‑year average of more than 68%.
“It’s the thing that has kept me here for so long,” said CEO Vince Barsolo, who has spent nearly three decades with the company. “I got to see the byproduct — the women getting out of the institutions, integrating back into society, getting their kids back, getting gainful employment, purchasing a home, getting an education — and then I was just bought in 100%.”
Televerde is a unicorn, in that is a for-profit business.
“We have to actively go out and sell our services,” Barsolo said. “Nobody hires us because of our model. They hire us because we perform and produce results for their business.”
While incarcerated, women learn to conduct business conversations, identify client pain points, and represent enterprise technology brands. Many women leave prison with years of hands‑on experience — more than most job seekers can claim.
“They can step into inside sales jobs, sales development roles, even field sales,” Barsolo said. “They walk out the door with experience and can contribute right away.”
In 2025, 44 women in Arizona and Indiana completed Televerde’s training and transitioned into corporate roles, many at Fortune 500 technology companies and global SaaS firms.
“About 70% of the women who are incarcerated have children and families out there,” Barsolo said. “When 95% of the people who work for us get back into society and make solid contributions, they become tax‑paying citizens like the rest of us.”
Televerde’s long‑term investment continues after release through the Televerde Foundation, launched in 2020 to provide reentry support, career development, and stability resources. The company now operates five in‑prison contact centers and has generated more than $14 billion in revenue for clients since 1995.
Barsolo quickly says the program works because the women are driven.
“It’s the best group of people I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “They want to change their lives. They don’t want to live the lives they lived when they entered the facility. That motivation and discipline is the foundation of why the business is successful.”
Televerde’s hiring process inside the facilities mirrors any corporate environment — interviews, evaluations and feedback. Some candidates apply multiple times before being accepted.
“Some of our best people have gone through the interview process three or four times,” Barsolo said. “It shows they’re willing to put in the effort to become more qualified.”
Barsolo said he believes the company’s longevity proves that second‑chance hiring isn’t charity — it’s smart business.
“In the B2B world, revenue is only as strong as the talent driving your sales engine,” he said in Televerde’s 2025 report. “Our graduates re-enter the community as job‑ready professionals who drive immediate results.”
