Jay Christensen

Background

About Jay Christensen

In 1986 I moved from Idaho to California to become a structural mechanic for Northrup Aviation, I trained in El-Segundo California and was offered an early-out from the training in order to take a sub assembly position in the Compton plant. I really enjoyed the work and the people there, but Compton was a bit of a culture shock for a kid from Idaho, the area had more violence than I cared to be around. In 1988 my wife (at the time) and I were expecting our first child and we decided to come back to Idaho to raise our child. Ironically, I left Compton California to get away from violence, came back to Idaho and went to work at the state prison. The Idaho Department of Correction has been a major part of my life since then, the people of this department has stood by me in good times and bad times, through multiple positions, leadership roles, promotions, opportunities, multiple facilities. Today I am proud to say that my son Nicholas (the one we moved back here to raise) has also chosen to join the department and currently serves as a Probation and Parole Training Specialist for the state. My Wifes son Cameron, serves as a correctional officer at Idaho Maximum Security Institution and my nephew is currently an officer at Idaho State Correctional Institution. Because this department seems like such a great family, what better place to put them all to work! I retired in October 2021 and decided to take up some of the traveling that we had missed out on during the pandemic, Stuck in the Toronto Pearson Canada Airport, I met Mary Hayes of Workbay and after a short conversation, we started weekly zoom meetings which led to reentry roads and now working full time with Mary and her company Workbay to deliver Workforce readiness training, resume building, job search, potential placement on inmate tablets across the US.