Clearing Records, Unlocking Potential: Why We Backed Rasa
By Amy Nelson, Managing Partner, Rethink Education
When I was 19 years old, I did something stupid. I bought alcohol with a fake ID and managed to get arrested for it. I had to appear in court, pay a fine, and look like an idiot in front of my friends. Because it was a first-time offense, I had access to an attorney (the father of a friend who was also a party to this incident), and lucked out with a generous judge, this arrest was cleared from my record with very little fanfare. Since then, I’ve had multiple background checks for employment and education and never hit a snag.
Many other people, especially those not enrolled at a tony liberal arts college, don’t get off so lucky. I’ve spent the past four years chairing the board of Partners for Justice, a nonprofit focused on helping public defenders provide holistic defense services. I’ve seen how even minor offenses can set a life wildly off course and how little our systems of incarceration do to intervene for people who need help but only receive punishment.
A criminal record can dog people for life — and an estimated 70–100 million Americans have one. Criminal records are digital and permanent, surfacing in background checks, which are commonly used to determine eligibility for housing, employment, education, and even voting. An estimated 27% of people with criminal records are currently unemployed, nearly 7x the national average, and many more are underemployed due to the mistakes of their past.
Some 95% of employers utilize background checks routinely before hiring, and as many as 65% ask about criminal histories on hiring questionnaires. Increasingly, many states are implementing ‘fair chance hiring laws’ to help the justice-involved gain or improve their employment. This typically takes the form of ‘ban the box’ legislation, meaning that companies cannot ask about a criminal history in a job application but are generally able to run a background check after an offer of employment has been extended.
Broader petition-based expungement laws and clean slate laws are helping to change this. While record clearance isn’t new, many states have passed legislation in recent years to simplify the process or make more individuals eligible. Generally, eligibility for clearance is based on the type of crime committed, the total number of crimes committed, and the amount of time that has passed since the individual committed the crime.
Enter: Rasa, one of our latest investments. Founder Noella Sudbury cut her teeth as a public defender and went on to advocate across multiple states for record clearing legislation. Now, she’s building a company that allows individuals to clear their records for less than 10% of the cost of hiring an attorney. For the estimated 20–30 million Americans eligible for record clearance, Rasa represents a lifeline to a better, freer future. And the company is innovating to get interested parties, like Medicaid providers, community colleges, and employers to help identify eligible individuals and shoulder the costs of expungement.
At Rethink Education, we believe in Rasa because of the incredible progress they’ve demonstrated in just a few short years, the technology moat they have built, and their unrelenting commitment to transforming lives. Since the company’s inception in 2022, more than 16,000 individuals have used its platform to determine their eligibility for record clearance, and over 3,000 expunctions (~1,200 individuals) have been granted an expungement with the help of Rasa. For the people Rasa serves, record clearance means higher wages, better jobs, access to education, stable housing, hope, restoration of dignity, and economic mobility. It’s rare to find a company with such significant impact potential, that also presents a $5 billion-plus market opportunity.
Our justice-impacted communities need so much more in terms of resources and reform, but Rasa represents a huge step forward that leverages the rules of the current, deeply imperfect system. We are proud to join them on their journey, which aligns seamlessly with our mission to break down systemic barriers that limit human potential.
Check out Noella’s TED Talk to learn more about Rasa’s origin story.
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