Reducing Recidivism through Employment

As the former CEO of the healthcare firm SynerMed, James Mason led a team of 750 employees operating out of the firm’s headquarters in Monterey Park, California. After guiding SynerMed for nearly twenty years, James Mason has shifted his full-time focus to various philanthropic pursuits. He is highly involved in several nonprofits in the Los Angeles area, including Homeboys Industries, a group dedicated to providing training, hope, and support to those who have been incarcerated or involved in gang activity. 

Homeboys Industry works to reduce recidivism by providing paid on-the-job training to newly released individuals and offering job opportunities to people with criminal histories. 

Secure employment is one of the strongest indicators of successful societal re-entry for recently incarcerated people. However, multiple barriers prevent people who have served time from obtaining and maintaining jobs. 

Many employers run background checks on job applicants, and the associated stigma of having a criminal record can result in discrimination. Additionally, after serving several years behind bars, returning citizens may find that they do not have the right skills or qualifications to obtain gainful work. Unemployment and underemployment are both significant contributors to reoffending.

Homeboy Industries Aims to Steer Los Angeles Youth down Good Path

From 1999 to 2018, James Mason served as the CEO of SynerMed, a managed care and medical group administration company based in Monterey Park, California. During and after his time spent leading Synermed, James Mason has supported organizations that provide a new start for disadvantaged people, such as Homeboy Industries.

A Los Angeles-based organization, Homeboy Industries provides support and training to young men who were previously incarcerated or involved with gangs in order to help them turn their lives around. Each year, more than 10,000 former gang members are reached by the organization, which provides a range of services including tattoo removal, anger management courses, and parenting classes.

In addition, the organization offers an 18-month job training program that gives full-time employment to more than 200 men and women at a time to help them acquire necessary job skills. With a high school dropout rate of over 43 percent for African American students, Homeboy Industries works to keep teenagers focused on finishing school while steering them away from participating in youth gang activities.

Father Gregory Boyle Shares Experiences in Tattoos on the Heart

After nearly 20 years guiding healthcare-focused information management firm SynerMed, James Mason has become involved in numerous organizations as a board member and financial supporter. Since leaving his post as SynerMed’s chief executive officer, James Mason contributes regularly to Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides job opportunities, education, and guidance to people formerly involved in the criminal justice system.

Father Gregory Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, became the pastor of the Dolores Mission Church, located in one of the poorest areas in Los Angeles, in 1986. Tattoos on the Heart is a collection of true stories compiled by Father Boyle over his 20 years of experience working with formerly incarcerated people.

The book is organized as a series of personal essays which describe how the people touched by Father Boyle’s efforts in the community found hope, strength, and unconditional love. Throughout the book, Father Boyle intersperses enlightening conversations with local residents, biblical references, and details of his work advancing the mission of Homeboy Industries. The novel is also available in Spanish under the name Tatuajes en el corazon.

St. Francis Center’s Youth Summer Camp Program

James Mason spent almost two decades as president and chief executive officer of SynerMed. Since retiring from his role at SynerMed, James Mason has served as a benefactor of St. Francis Center, dedicating his time to charitable projects that benefit those who are homeless.

St. Francis Center conducts hunger relief programs and offers comprehensive services to assist homeless and low-income families in greater Los Angeles. Among its offerings, the nonprofit works to provide children with memorable experiences through its Youth Summer Camp Program.

Every year, St. Francis Center sends close to 100 children to summer camps, where they connect with nature, develop friendships, and build confidence. In 2018, around 60 children ages 9 to 17 took part in a 10-day program at Camp Bob Waldorf in Glendale, while around 40 children ages 7 to 9 went to Camp Whittle in Big Bear. Both camps provide a safe environment for children to engage in activities including dancing, arts and crafts, sports, team-building exercises, swimming, kayaking, and animal care.

St. Francis Center supplies everything the children need for camp including camp and medical exam fees, sweatshirts and jackets, toiletries, and transportation. Those who attend the summer camp return home with a backpack full of school supplies to use when the school year starts.

Serving Meals at the St. Francis Center in Los Angeles

Now retired from health care administration, James Mason spent nearly two decades as the president and chief executive officer of SynerMed in Monterey Park, California. Alongside his leadership at SynerMed, James Mason served as a board member for the St. Francis Center, which he continues to support.

Established by Father Hugh Noonan and a group of lay Franciscans in 1972, the St. Francis Center exists to assist homeless and low-income individuals and families across Los Angeles. The center’s programs tackle areas ranging from health care to helping veterans transition from homelessness. The center also provides nutritional meals.

Homeless individuals can come to the St. Francis Center six days a week to receive meals served in restaurant fashion. They can also pick up sack lunches. The center requires neither payment nor registration for these services. Special offerings include holiday meals with traditional foods.

Volunteers and staff at the center serve more than 100,000 meals each year. For more information about the center’s programs and becoming a volunteer, visit www.stfranciscenterla.org.

University of Redlands Community Service Learning

The retired CEO of SynerMed, James Mason now dedicates himself to serving the community through volunteer work and support of multiple charities, nonprofit organizations, and educational groups. Among other institutions, former SynerMed CEO James Mason has been a longtime supporter of the University of Redlands. 

A private, independent liberal arts university in California, the University of Redlands prepares students to become conscientious, informed, and engaged citizens through a rigorous academic curriculum and a unique blend of liberal arts, professional programs, and both traditional and self-designed majors. The university also maintains a community service learning (CSL) initiative that helps student learn while assisting others.

Now more than 25 years old, the CSL program has been recognized by institutions around the country as an innovative and effective model that helps students develop leadership qualities, engage with academic theory in practice, and build real-world skills while serving the community. The University of Redlands supports CSL by coordinating partnerships between students, faculty, local agencies, and nonprofit organizations. 

Each year, Redlands students volunteer more than 120,000 hours of their time in the local community and around the world as part of the CSL initiative. Students have undertaken community-based projects ranging from founding youth mentorship programs to hosting fundraisers for disaster relief and helping communities build housing in Mexico.

The St. Francis Center Los Angeles Summer Camp Initiative

James Mason is a longtime health care executive and the former CEO of SynerMed. Since leaving SynerMed, he has pursued his passion for helping others as a volunteer, financial supporter, and board member for numerous charitable and nonprofit organizations in Southern California. Among these, James Mason serves as a board member of St. Francis Center Los Angeles.

Founded in 1972 by Father Hugh Noonan, a Franciscan friar in Santa Barbara County, St. Francis Center has grown into one of the most important social services organizations in the Los Angeles area. In addition to operating soup kitchens and food pantries, it coordinates well-being programs for families and homeless individuals. The organization also runs an annual youth summer camp initiative.

Each year, St. Francis Center sends approximately 100 boys and girls from underserved communities to a local overnight summer camp through partnerships with local groups. Currently, St. Francis partners with Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles to send 60 youths to Camp Bob Waldorf and 40 younger children to Camp Whittle. 

St. Francis Center covers all financial and logistical aspects of the initiative, including paying camp fees, supplying appropriate clothing, providing camp supplies, and coordinating transportation to and from the camp.