Checkr Wins Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Award in the AI and Data Category
Fast Company selected Checkr Assess for its fair chance background check model and bold technologies that push innovation for the good of society.
San Francisco, May 4, 2021 — Checkr, Inc., the leading technology company in the background check industry, announced today its product, Check Assess, has earned Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Award in the AI and Data Category. These annual awards honor businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaging and deeply committed to pursuing innovation to solve health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Checkr Assess was selected because it streamlines the background check process for the better, bringing thoughtful automation and flexible adjudication rules, allowing more people to be considered for employment. Assess lets employers identify the types of criminal records that aren't relevant to the job, and then annotates them based on the customers’ rule set. Checkr also uses machine learning to predict changes in the employment funnel based on changes to the eligibility criteria. By using Assess, employers don’t have to waste time reviewing irrelevant records or let their own bias take over and deny a candidate a job.
“Our mission at Checkr is to build a fairer future,” said Checkr CEO Daniel Yanisse. “We’re honored to receive this award from Fast Company, demonstrating Checkr’s commitment to give applicants a fair chance and create a new type of framework that reduces human bias in background check decisions. In 2020, in partnership with our customers, we reached our company goal of unlocking 1.5 million people who otherwise would have been excluded from the hiring process.”
A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” said Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
Now in its fifth year, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honorable mentions in different categories. From a cleaner freight train to an automated beehive, a way to recycle fabric, and other bold, new technologies, the Fast Company awards honor the products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
About Checkr
Checkr’s mission is to build a fairer future by improving understanding of the past. We believe all candidates, regardless of who they are, should have a fair chance to work. Established in 2014 and valued at $2.2 billion, Checkr is using technology to bring hiring to the next level. Our People Trust Platform uses AI and machine learning to help thousands of companies modernize their background check process and make hiring safer, more efficient, and inclusive. Our customers include Uber, Instacart, Doordash, Compass Group, Adecco, and Fortune 500 employers. Learn more at checkr.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.