’ y a W h t y t a i ‘P or tu n p p o to REM BY JE
JOE KENNER GREETS ME AT THE DOOR OF THE GREYSTON FOUNDATION’S YONKERS HQ LIKE A HOTEL MANAGER WELCOMING BACK AN ESPECIALLY VALUED GUEST, OR A PASTOR RECEIVING A LONG-ABSENT, ESTEEMED PARISHIONER. TRUTH IS, I’VE NEVER MET THE GUY BEFORE, BUT THAT DOESN’T SUPRESS JOE’S INNATE ENTHUSIASM.
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I’m barely inside the door before he ushers me into a conference room — a classroom by any other name, reconfigured for Covid with fewer desks and Perspex screens between them — to talk me through Greyston’s PathWay training programs, its pioneering Open Hiring policy and, well, the whole Greyston story, actually. Founded by Zen master Bernie Glassman in 1982, Greyston is a social justice enterprise that supports the disenfranchised and those who ordinarily face rejection, by teaching various job skills and offering real job opportunities. And in addressing poverty head-on, Greyston benefits individual lives and communities. No background checks are made; no questions are asked. “If you want to work, we’ll train you,” says Joe, intoning it almost like a mantra. Greyston offers employment and no-cost development programs entirely free of charge to anyone in need, which means battling against systemic inequities and advocating for a level playing field for all, regardless of their pasts. At the Greyston Bakery, the original core concern, a workforce of around 65 people produces 40,000 pounds of baked goods every day, for companies like Whole Foods and Ben & Jerry’s, giving a whole new meaning to the expression “flour power.” Back in the conference classroom, an associate spies Joe and rushes over to show him examples of the new certificates, hot off the press, which will be awarded to program graduates. These certificates, or “proclama-
