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Congressional Candidate Holds Job Fair For Former Incarcerated Constituents -- 26 Leave With Jobs

November 22, 2019

Illinois congressional candidate Sarah Gad held a job fair to employ former incarcerated constituents and dozens of people left with jobs.

Sarah Gad / Credit: ABC News

Gad is a formerly-incarcerated Cook County prisoner-turned University of Chicago law student. After a serious car accident in 2012, she was prescribed opioids and quickly became addicted. At the time she was in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh "living the life I'd always dreamed of".

But the addiction changed everything.

"Between 2013 and 2015, my life was a revolving door, in and out of jail and rehab centers. I would get arrested for a nonviolent drug offense, spend a few days in jail, get sent to rehab, then try to stay clean and get my life back on track," she said.

Gad has been sober since July 2015.

She is in her third year of law student at the prestigious University of Chicago Law School and currently running for Congress.

This past Sunday, Gad's campaign hosted a job fair-style meet & greet for Chicago's reentry community. The four-hour job fair enlisted a variety of background-friendly employers — from Amazon to the U.S. Census — and concluded with 26 on the spot hires and dozens of additional interviews.

If elected, the 32-year old will become the nation's first formerly incarcerated female legislator.