Ask Joe Kenner to name his favorite dessert and he’ll tell you, “I’m a plain vanilla guy.” An unexpected answer from the CEO of a brownie bakery, but he’s quick to add: “We bake brownies to hire people.”
That counter-intuitive statement is the second half of a tagline that succinctly describes the mission of Greyston Bakery, a thriving, four-decade-strong for-profit business in southwest Yonkers. In full, it goes like this: “We don’t hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people.”
Those people are considered to be the “hardest to employ,” mainly because of past criminal records, insufficient education, inexperience, mental health issues, and even homelessness. But none of that matters to the brownie boss and Greyston, where an innovative approach called Open Hiring rules the day. “We don’t ask for resumes, we don’t do background checks, we don’t ask questions.”
Kenner says that by eliminating those barriers to employment, Greyston engages in what he calls “second-chance hiring” — something that happens every time a new baker or factory worker is given a job, promoted within, or trained and groomed to take a new position at a similarly socially aware company that is open to no-questions-asked “inclusive hiring.” And it nourishes his soul like no sweet treat ever could.
“I get to meet the people we impact and hear their stories and see their transformation,” he says. But how did this corporate go-getter with a conscience thick as brownie batter get to Greyston?
Like most business school grads boasting an MBA (his is from Pace’s Lubin School), Kenner pounded the pavement of Wall Street before migrating north to Westchester’s competitive but more welcoming business scene. He took an offer at PepsiCo, where he progressed through the areas of insurance underwriting/risk management, capital markets, and sales strategy, but none of it scratched the itch he was feeling about doing more.
After about 14 years, he traded Corporate America for a government job when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on Port Chester’s village council. It was 2007 and he was the council’s first Black trustee; three years later, he won the election to continue in his role — causing that itch to ease, or more accurately, intensify.
He next enjoyed a stint as senior adviser to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino during his first term, but felt pulled toward the policy-making side of government affairs. He landed at Westchester’s social services department, where he served as deputy commissioner and piloted the Fatherhood Program, helping dads to get trained, get a job and keep it.
“I really wanted to see people break out of that cycle of poverty,” says Kenner. “They’re not deadbeats, they’re just dead broke.”
A chance encounter with a woman from Greyston Bakery, a place he didn’t know much about, turned out to be a fortuitous one (those chance meetings always seem to be), and together they arranged for a guest speaker to address Kenner’s colleagues in the county’s social services department. He, for one, was blown away.
“Greyston’s Open Hiring policy literally opens the door for people who are willing to work and resolved to be successful,” he says. “They are teachable, and they want to learn something new and provide for their families.” He adds that they are also held accountable for meeting professional standards.
In 2018, Kenner joined the executive team at Greyston as the vice president of programs and partnerships, where he directed workforce development efforts and community wellness strategies and activities. In 2020, he was promoted to CEO, where he remains proud to be leading the charge to break down the barriers to employment for those deemed the hardest to employ. “It’s the perfect blend between working in the corporate world and the nonprofit sector,” he says.
Just about every day, he leaves his office up the street to take a short walk to the bakery, where he gazes through towering windows overlooking brownie baking in action. He’s able to identify men formerly without housing and previously incarcerated women by name, and he marvels at how long they’ve been employed at Greyston and how often they’ve been promoted. His mind’s eye recalls others who’ve moved on to different companies, following training, assistance, and support at the bakery’s parent organization, the Greyston Foundation. And with each view and memory, that itch to do something meaningful gets a good scratch.
“It’s so rewarding when you get to see and meet your impact.” Rich, craveable words from a guy who gravitates toward plain vanilla when it’s time for dessert — though he’s known to cave at the site of one of Greyston’s luscious blondies.
Bakery Beginnings
While many of Westchester’s old-school bakery owners can trace their roots back to the dreams and determination of their Italian or Jewish immigrant grandparents, Greyston Bakery is the vision of a Zen Buddhist master from Brooklyn, who saw a need to feed the soul of his community.
The late Bernie Glassman (1939-2018), an aeronautical engineer and son of Jewish immigrants, was a “socially engaged” Buddhist, best defined as a nonviolent social and political activist. In 1980, he founded the Zen Community of New York (now called the Zen Peacemakers) in Riverdale, and two years later, he launched a bakery in the nearby Greyston Mansion to provide jobs for his followers/students. Glassman had no baking know-how — just a passion to find a need and fill it.
Noticing a dire need for employment opportunities in economically struggling Yonkers, Glassman moved his Greyston Bakery a couple of miles north to an old pasta-making facility where he employed low-skilled, uneducated, and often unhoused, neighborhood residents. He asked no questions, thus giving birth to the Open Hiring policy that is the cornerstone of Greyston today.
Those early bakers churned out cakes and tarts for high-end shops and restaurants in NYC, until a chance encounter (in 1987) between Glassman and a like-minded individual named Ben Cohen, who wanted brownies for his Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Today, Greyston exclusively bakes brownies — from scratch in seven all-natural, non-GMO varieties — that continue to swirl about Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Half Baked ice-cream flavors, and are available online at the bakery’s website.
In 1992, Glassman used bakery profits to create the Greyston Foundation to provide workforce development, training, and support to individuals facing barriers to employment — those with criminal records, mental health issues, those without housing, and others. The foundation continues to be funded by the bakery, as well as by government grants and private donations.
Greyston now occupies a 21,000-square-foot certified green (peanut-free) building in southwest Yonkers, and is a registered B-Corporation, a designation awarded to for-profit businesses that make a social, environmental, and economic impact in and for the world. While there are about a thousand individuals on the waiting list for a job, every name will eventually be called, and no questions will be asked.
And it all began with a Buddhist from Brooklyn and a fudgy brownie.
10 Questions With Kenner
914INC. enjoyed a spirited tour of the Greyston facility while peppering its CEO with questions — and battling an unrelenting craving for chocolate.
If you weren’t working in the nonprofit sector, where would you be?
Definitely still someplace where I could see the purpose beyond the profit.
What was your first job?
I was a dog census taker; I checked that dogs had their licenses — for $3.25 an hour.
Have you ever been fired?
No, not yet!
Do you have a mentor?
I’m part of a CEO/founders peer group and I receive coaching through this organization. I also rely on some friends and family, and members of my church.
How do you decompress?
I’m still learning! I try to take daily walks, and I find beach vacations in sunny weather to be very relaxing.
Read any good books lately?
I love to read. I’m a nerd though — I read a lot about e-commerce and also religion.
What do you wish people knew about Greyston?
I wish they knew the depth and breadth of the workforce development services we provide to the community — and that they would tell others about it.
What can’t you stop eating from the bakery?
Vegan birthday cake brownies.
Other than brownies, what’s your favorite dessert?
Chocolate chip cookies with chips on top, not inside. And I prefer a greater cookie-to-chip ratio.
What should the world understand about individuals with barriers to employment?
They are great future workers if given the opportunity. I wish everyone could see the potential in people and how that can fit into their business.
Related: The Art of Crafting an Effective Resume in Westchester
