Empowering Second Chance:  AzHREF's Community Partnership with Arouet 

Participate in a transformative session with Arouet, a trailblazing non-profit organization helping women carve their post-prison paths. Experience firsthand accounts of resilience and engage in an interactive activity that challenges bias and highlights the potential in second-chance hiring. Learn how you as a member of AzHREF can make a difference in the lives of women motivated to embrace a second chance. 

Our Speakers

Samantha Garcia

Samantha Garcia Pennell, Manager of Workforce Partnerships at Arouet Foundation. She is a woman focused on leveraging her journey to educate and motivate others to embrace their unique abilities and celebrate being exactly who they are. Samantha has almost a decade of experience in the training field that she leverages to help her participants to rebrand themselves through education and support. Samantha has a bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University in Career and Technical Education that she utilizes working with organizations to build strategic pathways for people who are released from incarceration to their communities. Her passion lies in nonprofit to bring services to women who have been impacted by the criminal justice system to help open doors to support and connect the community to these special people.

Brandy Smith

Brandy Smith is a 52-year-old California native but has lived in Arizona for almost 35 years. A lifelong, untreated substance abuse problem and a list of white-collar offenses led her to 3 terms of incarceration, for a total of 15 years. She was released in 2017 and in January of 2019, finally ended a 17-year cycle caught in the criminal justice system. Her passion for second chances and reentry makes her a perfect fit to be the Program Director at Arouet. She is now responsible for a comprehensive reentry program for incarcerated women so they can have a fighting chance to reunite with their families and communities and stop the cycle of recidivism. As a vocal advocate for recovery and sentencing reform, when she isn’t out trying to change the world, she enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, catching up on all life's great experiences.

Kim Thomas

Kim Thomas has a bachelor’s in communication and is the Career Assessment Skill Enhancement (CASE) Sr. Manager at Arouet Foundation. She began working as a consultant for Arouet in 2022, facilitating classes and assisting in various analysis and operational aspects and joined as an employee in January 2023. Kim has authored two books and founded a nonprofit to assist individuals deal with trauma of all kinds. Her philosophy is HOPE stands for Having Our Pain End and has assisted over 1000 women find their voice after overcoming traumatic pasts. Kim has spent almost two decades helping those impacted by the justice system become productive and thriving citizens and continues that work today. Her passion for helping people become their authentic self, came from overcoming her own trauma and she understands what it feels like to be invisible, dismissed, and powerless. Her desire is to help others thrive in whatever pathway they choose.

Event Sponsored by

This program has been submitted for 1.0 SHRM-PDC Recertification Credit and 1.0 HRCI Business (Strategy) Recertification Credit