Detroit

7310 Woodward Ave., Suite 701B Detroit, MI 48202 (313) 752-0680

Hours: Monday through Friday, from 8:30AM to 4:30PM

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CEODetroit@ceoworks.org

Partnership Contact

Giftie Umo

Site Director (Vocational Lead)

gumo@ceoworks.org

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The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Detroit provides immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services exclusively to people recently released from incarceration. CEO’s program supports participants in gaining the workplace skills and confidence needed for successful transitions to stable, productive lives. We are dedicated to ensuring that justice-impacted job seekers have opportunities to achieve socioeconomic mobility.

CEO Detroit opened in 2018.

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CEO Detroit was accepted to be a part of the steering committee for Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI). You can check out the webinar on Creating Equity Through Opportunity.

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CEO Updates:

Setting Up Shop in the Motor City

CEO opens a new office in Detroit.

Read the story

April 3, 2023

Detroit Free Press

Michigan law should require prisoner ID program, lawmakers say

When Kenneth Nixon left prison in 2021, it took him six months to get his ID and driver's license. Because he didn't have his vital documents, such as a birth certificate, he couldn't open a bank account or get a job.

November 3, 2022

Outlier Media

After waiting three decades, 54-year-old Michigander will vote in first general election

At 54 years old, William Lewis is a first-time voter. It’s not that Lewis wasn’t interested in voting before this election cycle — for more than three decades, he was denied the right to vote because of several felony convictions and a prison sentence for armed robbery. But Lewis, who lives in Farmington, said he’s trying to move on from his past and to live a better life.

August 31, 2022

The Detroit News

Opinion: Why companies should hire formerly incarcerated workers like me

I’ve been an information technology support specialist in Detroit for half a year now, and I consider myself lucky because I love my job helping other people solve problems. But it wasn’t easy getting here.

July 22, 2022

WDIV Local 4

Multiple organizations work to clean up flooded basements on Detroit’s east side

It happened over a year ago, but folks on Detroit’s east side still desperately need help cleaning out flooded basements. Thanks to a significant grant, workers were out in the neighborhood Thursday doing just that.

July 19, 2022

Model D Media

New grant to help homeowners clean up basement flood damage

At the top of the year, nonprofit neighborhood organization Jefferson East, Inc. (JEI) announced a new program that would help residents of the East Jefferson corridor repair, replace, and elevate furnaces damaged by basement flooding brought on by the rainstorms of 2021, a program bolstered by a $250,000 grant from the A.A. Van Elslander Foundation.

July 6, 2022

Michigan Chronicle

JEI Receives $125K to Support Flood-Related Basement Clean-Ups

Jefferson East, Inc. (JEI) and the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) have received a $125,000 grant from the McGregor Fund to support their partnership in providing emergency support for flooding-related basement clean-ups for low-income households in Detroit.

June 28, 2022

Crain's Detroit

GreenLight Fund exceeds goal in 2nd round of fundraising for anti-poverty programs

GreenLight Fund Detroit, launched to bring to the region programs with proven success in lifting people out of poverty, has completed a second round of funding.

March 24, 2022

Detroit Free Press

Opinion: Little-known policy penalizes returning citizens training for new jobs

As more than 10,000 Michiganders prepare to rejoin their communities this year, they will face steeper barriers to rebuilding their lives because of a little-known policy that penalizes them for pursuing critical job skills and paid training that aligns with their career dreams.

September 9, 2021

Crains Detroit

GreenLight Fund Detroit seeks second-round funding for efforts to improve lives of Detroiters in poverty

Boston-based GreenLight Fund announced its intent to come to Detroit in 2016 and made its first "investment" or grant of $600,000 in 2018 to New York-based Center for Employment Opportunities to bring its proven model for getting returning residents into jobs to Detroit. Since then, the group has employed 250 returning citizens in Detroit, Moudgil said.

September 29, 2020

Detroit Free Press

Michigan to end ban on food stamps for people with drug convictions

Michiganders with two or more felony drug convictions will no longer be banned for life from receiving food stamps under a change in the state budget.

July 31, 2020

Detroit Free Press

Nonprofits offer stimulus to Detroiters returning home from prison, jail during COVID-19

Nonprofits that help individuals re-enter society after incarceration are providing up to $2,250 to hundreds of Detroiters who need assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. The Center for Employment Opportunities, a national nonprofit with an office in Detroit, is spearheading the Returning Citizens Stimulus for formerly incarcerated people and others involved with the criminal justice system who are either unemployed or underemployed.

June 1, 2020

Detroit Free Press

Groups want Whitmer to end lifetime ban on food stamps for people with drug convictions

A coalition of organizations is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders to end a longtime policy that permanently bans Michiganders from receiving food stamps if they have two or more felony drug convictions. Advocates argue the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services policy that disqualifies people from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits based on their drug convictions hinders people's reentry into communities after they've served their time in jail or prison.

December 20, 2019

The Returning Citizen

[PODCAST] Center for Employment Opportunities: Providing jobs as a launchpad

The Returning Citizens interviews CEO Detroit. Finding a job can be a daunting task for returning citizens for all types of reasons-- gaps in work experience, lack of resources, stigma, and so much more. In this episode, we sit down with a team that’s in the trenches every day, hitting this challenge head-on. The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) has been operating for 20+ years, providing transitional employment services for formerly incarcerated individuals. They now operate in 26 Cities across 9 States, serving 8,000+ annually, and notably, launched in Detroit in 2018!

November 17, 2025

Aliyah Tyson

From the Ground Up: Jesse is Building a New Foundation Through Seasonal Work

When Jesse talks about home, his story begins in Detroit, in neighborhoods where dreams were fragile and survival was essential. “I grew up mostly on the east side, around Highland Park. I moved through foster care and sometimes stayed with family, but I was always moving from place to place,” he shares. “It was a poor urban community, but that’s where I’m from.”

January 31, 2025

Black History Month Business Spotlight: Blake

Meet Blake, the visionary behind No Excuses Initiative and Bosses Building Bosses LLC. His journey from spending 14 years behind bars to leading impactful community programs showcases his relentless spirit and strong will.

December 2, 2022

Alex Mitchell and Emily Montgomery

From participant to advocate, RayVon is advancing criminal legal system reforms

RayVon is dedicated to working as a champion for the rights of people impacted by the criminal legal system. “My goal is to have my voice heard and my advocacy recognized,” he says.

November 28, 2022

Emily Montgomery

As CEO’s new Midwest Social Enterprise Manager, Quincy is creating pathways to economic mobility

Like many young graduates, Quincy wasn’t sure where life would take him after school, but he knew he wanted to work in criminal justice reform.

August 31, 2022

Channor Lewis

Opinion: Why companies should hire formerly incarcerated workers like me

April 4, 2022

Quiana Pugh

Members of Congress hear from justice-impacted individuals

At CEO, we have a vision that each person returning home from incarceration will have access to a quality job and economic mobility. Even though more than 600,000 individuals return home from incarceration each year, they are largely unable to access our country’s public workforce system and the support needed to focus on employment training during reentry. This past winter, CEO invited federal lawmakers to 9 of our sites to hear directly from justice-impacted experts on needed changes to law to make employment training better.

January 24, 2022

Eric Borsuk

SNAP offers critical support for returning citizens but improvements are needed

Isaac talks on a cell phone outside of a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training center in Detroit, Michigan, during his lunch break. Despite the cold weather, he insists that the fresh air is gladly welcomed. After being incarcerated for over four decades, he is taking the reentry process “day-by-day.” While acknowledging his strong support system of family members, he admits that the transition hasn’t been without its difficulties.

November 18, 2021

Eric Borsuk

A Returning Citizen From Michigan Is Giving Back To His Community

Konrad was born and raised in the rough streets of Detroit, Michigan. As a promising student in school, he had hopes of one day attending college. However, due to an abusive father, he found himself homeless and living on the streets at age 13. This unfortunate and dangerous turn of events caused his life to go in a very different direction. After a drug deal gone bad left two men fatally shot, Konrad decided to turn himself in to the police.