Dale Anderson created his livelihood around employing the hard to employee. When he conceived the idea of Confections With Convictions, his Kalamazoo, Mich., chocolate shop, he was not only highlighting his use of premium sustainable ingredients. The name also refers to his commitment to hiring youth who may not be able to find work elsewhere due to their criminal records. Today, his four employees all have felony records.
Anderson was a licensed professional counselor and a mediator in the court system since 1996, but he wanted to do more. A taste of artisan chocolate and a few classes later and an idea was born. "Many of the juveniles I counsel are kinetic learners. They sit there taking apart the stapler on my desk while we are in a counseling session. They need to be moving, doing things while learning," says Anderson, who maintains that court-ordered counseling ends up deeling like more punishment. "No matter how well-meaning, it's a system that is deficit-based, not strength-based."
Anderson's convictions extend globally as well and are engrained in his business practices. He sources chocolate from Ecuador and Peru rather than other countries where child labor is used. "We use organic and fair trade chocolate because if we are trying to help youth here, we don't want to abuse youth elsewhere," Anderson says.
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