Checkr Ranked on Fortune’s Change the World List 2021
What does it mean to “Change the World”? That’s a big concept—one that Fortune magazine has grappled with over the last seven years in search of companies that have solving social problems at the center of their business model. This year, Checkr is proud and humbled to be added to that list for our mission of fair chance hiring and our commitment to making the world a fairer place.
Fortune’s Change the World list honors 50 companies that use the creative tools of capitalism—including the profit motive—to address society’s unmet needs. The 2021 list is also the second during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed how sorely our society has neglected some of these needs.
Many of this year’s honorees are battling to reverse that neglect, investing in the long-term health of their businesses by supporting those on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder—whether by bolstering pay and benefits for frontline workers, serving small farmers, or most urgent of all, distributing COVID vaccines in low- and middle-income nations. Shared Value Initiative, a consultancy that helps companies apply business skills to social problems, nominated the businesses on the list.
Fortune ranked Checkr #17 on the Change the World list for building a more equitable future by helping people with criminal records find work. Fortune cited Checkr’s products and human analysis in helping large and small businesses alike to determine if an applicant’s arrest or conviction history is relevant to the job. They also praise Checkr for unblocking 1.5 million applicants in 2020 and setting the goal to unblock 3 million people this year. Unblocking a candidate means they are now considered for a job that they might otherwise have been excluded from due to their record.
Editor Erika Fry at Fortune said in determining the rankings:
“We’re looking at a few different factors. One, what is the scale and size of the impact they are having. Second, what is the degree of innovation involved? Is this something that every company in their industry is doing? Or something that they are being a corporate leader or taking a leadership role in addressing this problem? Third, we look at what is the impact on the business?”
At Checkr, we are most humbled to be joined on the Change the World list by many inspirational companies which keep corporate social responsibility at the heart of the business. To learn more about Checkr’s mission of fair chance hiring, click here.
To find out more about Fortune’s 2021 Change the World list, find more information here.