ABOUT GLADIUS

History

Gladius was created in 2010 by ex-felons for the purpose of enabling motivated ex-felons to break the chains of recidivism. Since then it has been expanded to include all motivated individuals (no group of able-bodied individuals is more difficult to help become financially secure than ex-felons).
Summary

Our goal is simple: to "do well by doing good" (i. e. to generate a large amount of capital while helping others). We educate motivated individuals (especially ex-felons) to become financially secure, productive members of their communities through stable and meaningful employment.

Our challenging, real-world curriculum includes over 500 hours of class time in Sales (Theory and Practice), Literature, Composition and Mathematics and a combination of internships and externships.

Upon graduation, each student will be thoroughly trained, and confident; with G.E.D. level reading and math skills.

Students will be employed on the first day of class which will continue after graduation; and which will pay back the direct student loans.

Our goal is to operate campuses in each of the top 20 U. S. CMSA's by 2016. Each CMSA will include one "Campus" and at least four "Satellite" instructional facilities.
Philosophy

Gladius’ founders realized that it is extremely difficult for ex-felons to obtain stable and meaningful employment.

We believe in doing well by doing good; that a well-lived life is based upon financial security, not over-abundance.

We believe that “teaching someone to fish” is not enough; we believe that they should also be shown “where to fish” and “what to do with the fish” once it is caught as such, employment is a key component of the educational process.

We offer employment that is both stable and meaningful. Such that, by “stable” we mean that those seeking financial security have a reasonable expectation that their job will be there for as long as they want it. For example, being a janitor at a major retail establishment may be very stable, but it is not meaningful; that is, it is likely that no child ever said that they wanted to be a janitor when they grew-up.

By “meaningful” we mean that the community favors that type of employment. For example, being an artist is very meaningful; yet, it is almost never stable. We do not offer this type of employment.

We focus on employment that is primarily of mentally intensive (i.e. white-collar). We seek to place motivated people into positions that they can perform well at for as long as they are mentally able.
People

Other similar programs fail for several reasons. Two of the primary reasons are that the classes are taught by non-ex-felons and they are taught by people who have not been successful.

Non-ex-felons cannot truly relate to the mental and emotional challenges faced by ex-felons when seeking education and employment. This truly is a case where “having walked in the shoes” of the person is essential. We strive to recruit professional ex-felons.

Unfortunately, successful people have little interest in teaching individuals currently in the bottom 25% of a community. Successful people almost always choose to pursue financial success or focus their attention on the “best and brightest” of the community.

Because 25% of the world’s prison population is in the US (and 10% is in California) there is an ample supply of ex-felons who were successful prior to going to prison (but are currently unable to find stable and meaningful employment), who are members of our team.
Places

Gladius operates in conjunction with Larson Training Centers where Larson operates licensed campuses and/or satellites.

Gladius also operates as an on-the-job training facilitator in areas where there is no school to work with.
Technology

Gladius utilizes technology to the maximum extent possible. Employees are expected to be proficient in MS Office and many cloud-based applications (including: Customer Relationship Management, Calendars, Maps and Social Media).