From Incarceration to Instructor: How One Apprentice Is Paying It Forward During National Apprenticeship Week

“Without YUPRO, I wouldn’t be here because they showed me how to believe in myself.”

YUPRO Placement is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week by sharing the stories of current and former apprenticeships. Meet Valerie Boden. Her life-affirming journey reflects the power of skills-based training, second chances, and the ripple effect of opportunity. Today, as an apprentice with Aramark through YUPRO Placement, she is not only building her own future; she is helping others build theirs.

“I’m currently a traveling instructor apprentice with Aramark,” she says. “I work through their IN2WORK program, where we go into county jails and state prisons and teach classes to currently incarcerated individuals.”

Just two years after returning home from her own incarceration, Valerie is now standing in front of classrooms inside jails and prisons, teaching skills that can open doors to employment and stability. Valerie has already traveled across the country, including leading her first solo class in Salt Lake City, where she taught 15 incarcerated women. Every one of them graduated.

“I don’t like to say I’m here to give someone hope. I like to say I’m here as an example.”

A Different Path Forward

Valerie’s path to becoming an instructor was hardly a straight line. After returning home from incarceration, she faced the same barriers that many individuals navigating reentry encounter.

“One of the reasons why I was a part of the recidivism rate was because when I came home, there weren’t many opportunities,” she explains. “I could work in a factory, or I could go back to what I knew that led me to prison in the first place.”

That began to change when she enrolled in Creating Restorative Opportunity Programs (CROP), where she developed foundational skills and began exploring new career pathways. It was during this time, while building her resume and online presence, that she came across an apprenticeship opportunity through YUPRO Placement.

“I found it on LinkedIn, I applied, and I really didn’t have high hopes, but I figured, why not?,”, she says. “I hadn’t really trained for a position like this so I didn’t know what to expect.”

But the experience quickly shifted her perspective. Unlike other interviews she had experienced, this one felt different.

“I didn’t have to worry about ‘Does she know about my past? Do I have to tiptoe around gaps in my resume?’” Valerie explains. 

Learning Skills and Teaching Them Forward

Through her apprenticeship with Aramark, Valerie developed practical, in-demand skills that she now brings directly back into the classroom.

Her instruction includes food safety certifications such as ServSafe so they are certified to handle food and do food management,  as well as warehouse logistics training covering everything from inventory processes to operational efficiency for these high-demand and well-paying jobs.

“We teach KPIs, how to streamline order picking, the difference between batch picking and zone picking, shipping, receiving, inspection, and all the jobs that go into warehouse and fulfillment center management,” she explains.

These are not abstract lessons. They are real-world, job-ready skills tied to real employment opportunities. And they are skills Valerie learned firsthand through her apprenticeship experience.

That’s what makes her role so powerful. She is not only teaching curriculum; she is teaching what she has learned, applied, and now passes on.

For Valerie, one of the most important parts of her work is helping individuals recognize their own potential.

“You already have a lot of skills, you were just using them in the wrong dynamic,” Valerie says. “I’ve never met a group of individuals more dedicated to showing they can do the job the right way than the formerly incarcerated,” she adds.

The Power of Representation

Valerie’s impact in the classroom is amplified by one critical factor: she has lived the experience.

“I’ve been in that chair,” she says. “I’ve watched people come in who never walked a mile in my shoes telling me to do something different. And the first thing you think is ‘you could never relate.’”

Her presence changes that immediately. “Being one of those people who can say, ‘I’ve been here, I’ve done this, and I figured it out’ It hits home differently.”

Rather than positioning herself as a source of inspiration alone, Valerie focuses on being tangible proof of what’s possible.

“I don’t want to give someone hope,” she says. “I want to be an example.”

Moments That Matter

One of Valerie’s most meaningful experiences came during a graduation ceremony for that class she taught in Salt Lake City.

“One of the ladies had been incarcerated for over 17 years,” Valerie recalls. “She said this was the first program that made her feel like she could actually do something different when she went home.”

For years, that woman had struggled to imagine a future beyond incarceration.

“She said she would sit in her bed at night thinking, ‘What am I going to do? I have no skills, no job experience,’” Valerie says.

Now, she has both.

Through the program, participants not only earn certifications but also gain access to internship opportunities with Aramark upon release, along with potential pathways into stable employment.

A Role Model at Work and at Home

As Valerie builds her career, she is also shaping something equally important—what the future looks like for her family.

In small, everyday moments, that shift is already visible.

She recalls correcting her daughter’s instinct to apologize repeatedly after making a mistake.

“I told her, we don’t just say ‘I’m sorry,’” Valerie says. “We show it with our actions. What are we going to do differently next time?”

It’s a lesson rooted in accountability, growth, and self-belief.  The same principles she brings into every classroom she teaches.

For Valerie, being a role model isn’t about perfection; it’s about demonstrating that change is possible and that mistakes can become turning points.

A Growing Movement

Programs like the one Valerie is part of reflect a broader shift in workforce development—one that recognizes the value of second-chance hiring and skills-based training.

Through YUPRO Placement’s apprenticeship model and partnerships with Aramark and other major corporations, individuals gain access to structured opportunities that combine learning, work experience, and real career pathways.

“They were looking for people who had put in the work and wanted to do something different,” she says.

Looking Ahead

As Valerie approaches her two-year milestone since returning home, she reflects on how far she has come.

“This is the first time in 14 years that I haven’t been on parole or probation,” she says. “I’ll be celebrating my two years at home at the end of this month.” 

In that time, she has built a career, found her purpose, and begun creating opportunities for others. Her goal now is simple but powerful.

“I want to keep doing exactly what I’m doing, but just more,” she says. “Providing instruction and helping build skills for people in more jails, more prisons, and more re-entry programs to help others.”