Growth of “The Way Out” and the Impact of Investing in Latinx Founders

gener8tor accelerator alumni celebrate their Latinx heritage and recent selection to the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund

The Way Out has been connecting formerly incarcerated people to jobs since 2019. The company was started by Eli Rivera and Ruben Gaona, both previously incarcerated, who were inspired by their own life experiences to remove the barriers and stigma that people face in finding employment after incarceration. 

The Way Out aligns employers with qualified Justice Involved Job Seekers via a comprehensive anti-bias job platform and provides social support services and technologies to help job seekers integrate into new roles successfully. The Way Out provides a robust anti-bias employment platform and self-learning mobile app that helps remove personal and professional barriers and provides ongoing support.

The Way Out came to life in the summer of 2019 when Rivera and Gaona met through gener8tor’s gALPHA Social Impact Program, supported by the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. The free, four-week program supported entrepreneurs in furthering their startup ideas and provided mentorship and coaching. Rivera and Gaona graduated from gALPHa and later went on to complete the gBETA Social Impact Program in the fall of 2019, a free, seven-week pre-accelerator program to help grow startup companies, meet mentors and pitch investors. 

It’s been a process for Rivera and Gaona to get to where they are, and they’ve had a lot of community support from re-entry service providers, other justice-impacted folks organizations, local Milwaukee programs such as BizStarts, and continued support from gener8tor and the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. Even with all the support, there are barriers and challenges that entrepreneurs face, especially entrepreneurs of color and who come from justice-impacted backgrounds. 

“You get this feeling that the person sitting on the other side is looking at you as less than,” said Rivera. “The reality is, in the funding arena, we know we get such a tiny sliver of resources that go to startups and that has always been challenging and probably the greatest opportunity. The greatest growth is being able to adapt to that and grow and go look for opportunities that are for black and brown founders, and that I too can do something to disrupt the normal pattern of funding resources.”

That’s exactly what The Way Out did by applying for the Google For Startups Latino Founders Fund. The team was accepted to the program this past summer of 2022, receiving a $100,000 in funding, Google Cloud credits and hands-on support from the Google For Startups team! The Way Out was one of 50 Latino startups selected for the first Latino Founders Fund. 

“I belong in the room,” said Gaona, talking about the impact The Way Out provides to the communities that they serve. “I have that lived life experience that I'm able to relate with the community that I serve and offer and provide value.”

gener8tor has been fortunate to work with over 1,000 startups throughout its 10 years as a company, and The Way Out is just one of the amazing startups that have truly taken every opportunity in front of them and grown. The gener8tor team is thrilled to continue to support them in their growth and would also like to leave you with a final message, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, on how impactful diverse backgrounds and cultures are in building and solving problems to create positive changes in our communities. 

Q&A with Eli Rivera and Ruben Gaona, Co-founders of The Way Out

gener8tor: How do you leverage or lean into your Latinx background and apply that to your company?

Eli Rivera: “I think that is the greatest motivation. I remember when it came to being sentenced, I was looking back at my mom and apologizing for misrepresenting my culture, my people, being that stereotype. And I remember how impactful that moment was, and I think now I have the opportunity to redeem that memory and to make my people proud.”

Ruben Gaona: “Growing up Latinx in a barrio that was underrepresented, shaped me to know how to deal with adversity and be resilient. The stigma that comes with being a justice-involved individual as a person of color is often looked at as if we are the worst. My background gave me the strength to stand up for myself and be like, ‘Hey, look, you know, the mistakes that I made do not define who I am, and at the end of the day, it’s what I do afterward.’ This allowed me to be better and remember that I served this country. I am a U.S. Navy veteran. I am someone, and I am more than the mistake I committed! Being able to show people that our mistakes do not define who we are but what we do afterward, especially our people of color who often struggle to reenter society due to having a second chance is a way that I can pay it back to my community. I'm blessed to have had a family to support me throughout my transition, but how many people do not have that support? So, I want them to understand that as minorities they are not alone and for them to know we're here for them and we know that their mistakes don't define who they are. So, let's figure out what is their way out so we could genuinely assist them.”