Kissy Coakley is the Founder of Kissy’s Stay Put Services. She holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Metropolitan State University. Throughout her career, Kissy has consistently advocated for positive reforms to the criminal justice system that rehabilitate people and empower them to lead productive lives instead of keeping them trapped in a costly cycle of perpetual punishment and incarceration.
Kissy has worked as a Domestic & Sexual Violence Advocate and a Re-entry Case Manager for several nonprofits over the past 14 years. Kissy’s passion for understanding clients’ unique circumstances helped her quickly realize the disparities women face, as well as the injustices in the criminal justice system. Women are the fastest growing population who are being criminalized by our justice system, while trying to keep themselves safe from their abusers. In 2020, Kissy decided she would use her extensive knowledge gained by advocating for criminal justice reform and safe communities to create Kissy’s Stay Put Services, a nonprofit that addresses these critical issues.
In addition to her professional experience, Kissy is politically active. She was elected to the Minnetonka City Council in 2019, and is the first African-American woman to serve on the Council. Kissy has worked on criminal justice policy reform through her involvement with the Second Chance Coalition and as a leader in TakeAction MN’s Justice 4 All Campaign, where she helped champion a national movement that worked with Target Corporation to change hiring policies and make criminal background checks fairer. Kissy has also worked on legislation in the State of Minnesota for several criminal justice reform initiatives.
The NAACP and TakeAction Minnesota accused Target Corp. of unfair hiring practices in 10 formal complaints filed Wednesday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The NAACP and the community group allege the retailer’s hiring practices discriminate against applicants with criminal records. In a news conference Wednesday in Minneapolis, the groups accused Target of denying people with criminal records job interviews, even when the alleged crime was old, expunged or irrelevant to the prospective job. NAACP and TakeAction members filed 10 formal complaints with the EEOC and referenced an additional 150 cases documented over eight months….read more
More than 60 counties, cities, and states—and some corporations—are reducing discrimination against former offenders by removing one small box from job applications
Kissy Mason understands the importance of second chances. As she grew up in Minneapolis in the ’80s and ’90s, she watched her family members move in and out of prison and saw the discrimination they faced as a result.
“People in my family were being locked up, and then they were locked out of a right to live, a right to employment,” she said.
Unemployment is a huge barrier to the success of ex-offenders outside prison walls…read more
IT’S OUR TIME: KISSY COAKLEY MAKES HISTORY ON MINNETONKA CITY COUNCIL
When Kissy Coakley was denied a job at Target Corporation after a criminal background check, she didn’t give up. Instead, she decided to take on the massive corporation and fight for equitable policies.
She worked to Ban the Box at Target Corporation in 2012, becoming an active leader in TakeAction Minnesota’s Justice 4 All program. Together, we won that campaign.
It was that same determination and organizing that Kissy brought to the campaign trail when she decided to run for Minnetonka City Council. We knew Kissy had the grassroots game needed to mobilize Minnetonka voters, one door at a time. And that’s exactly what she did…read more
