Supporting Those Who Have Been Justice Involved

Please join Evenings at ECDI for the kickoff talk of the series “Partnering in the Human Need: Supporting Those Who Have Been Justice Involved.”

We invite you to engage in this conversation with socially conscious founders, community leaders, corporations, and industry experts. Wendy Tarr and Dana Davis with ARCH, Danielle Calderon, US Department of Labor- Wage and Hour Division and Melissa Wick Esq of Wick Law Offices LLC will guide our conversation around a wholistic approach to reentry allowing individuals opportunities to reconnect with their families, obtain gainful employment, and strengthen their communities.

In the last decade, “social enterprise” has become a buzz word . Yet, socially conscious corporations and businesses have always existed within our society. Within Central Ohio we have patrons of social enterprises, social innovators with and without businesses, and corporations with employees who want to partner in the greater good. Evenings at ECDI will bring together all those individuals in a focused, human needs-centric conversation, to strengthen awareness of current Central Ohio social issues and get to know the businesses that work for social good. The conversation will bring together collaborators of diverse backgrounds to drive action and create new partnerships within our community.

Wendy has spent 15 years working with faith-based communities, building social justice organizations, and organizing issue-based campaigns. Her work has included worker’s justice issues; healthcare, immigration, and criminal justice reform; and lots of coalition building.

Wendy is the founding director of Accompanying Returning Citizens with Hope (ARCH), a nonprofit based in Columbus.

Dana Davis is responsible for building a network of employers offering second chance employment. Dana helps employers find talented returning citizens who qualify for open positions; leverages new and existing partnerships to connect employers with resources, and counsels returning citizens directly in overcoming barriers as they return to the workplace. Dana comes to this position knowing firsthand the impact of incarceration and what it can do to a family. Her childhood and life experiences have fueled her passion & desire to help others impacted by incarceration. She has built strong community partnerships to align with the needs of the clients she serves throughout her 10 years of experience in the reentry field working in case management, program management, and workforce development

As the Owner of Wick Law Offices, a law firm focusing on small businesses, social enterprise, and LGBTQ+ and female entrepreneurs, Melissa Wick is immersed every day in helping clients succeed.

Melissa is a certified business coach that focuses on entrepreneurial mindset coaching for LQBTQ+ and female-identifying entrepreneurs. She runs a course called Growth Mindset Revolution for entrepreneurs who want to be FABULOUS and stop conforming to archaic heteronormative patriarchy. The course also covers fear of failure, failure resilience, living from your best future self, and much more! For a taste, check out her podcast Send it Sunday .

She gives back to the local business community by serving on several boards that empower minority and women-owned businesses. She serve on the board of directors of NAWBO Columbus, Social Ventures, and LEAP.

Danielle Calderon is the Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialist (CORPS) for the Wage & Hour Division’s Ohio District Office. Danielle began her career in 2011 as a Wage Hour Investigator. Over the last decade she has acted as a subject matter expert on the laws enforced by the Wage & Hour Division, including: the Fair Labor Standards Act, Davis Bacon and Related Acts, and the Service Contract Act. Danielle began working as the CORPS for the Ohio in 2022 and works to provide outreach and education to stakeholders throughout the state

Since 2004, ECDI has assisted Ohio’s entrepreneurs through their one-stop-shop business services model, suited to meet the needs of all entrepreneurs, regardless of what business stage they’re in. From providing capital to entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses, to providing focused, business-specific educational opportunities to enhance entrepreneurial skill sets, ECDI works with their clients to meet their specific needs. Whether you merely have a business idea or are opening up your fifth location, we have helped more than 15,000 entrepreneurs to take advantage of the services we provide.

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