Bernard Labs came to TEG with a clear goal: build a more supportive workplace culture and develop the internal infrastructure to help their workforce succeed. TEG began with a Discovery — structured sessions with Bernard Labs' leadership team and key stakeholders to understand the organization's vision, current state, and the questions the team was wrestling with. Those sessions produced a written Discovery Report, which was presented to leadership and served as the foundation for everything that followed.

With the Discovery complete, TEG moved into the Build. TEG trained identified staff as Skilled Helpers, equipping them with evidence-based care management tools to support their colleagues through personal and professional challenges — and participants reported meaningful gains in confidence across every skill area covered, from active listening and empathy to de-escalation and establishing boundaries. With those internal resources in place, TEG worked alongside Bernard Labs to design the processes for connecting employees with support, building the referral pathways and escalation protocols that would allow the program to function day to day. TEG then facilitated a company-wide session to introduce the program vision and align the full organization around what had been built.

TEG then conducted one-on-one sessions with employees across the organization — listening, building trust, and surfacing the real needs and challenges present in the workforce. Those findings were synthesized into a comprehensive Needs Assessment Report, capturing key themes and actionable recommendations. Among the most prominent findings was a significant need for financial education and support — a thread that ran across housing instability, transportation barriers, legal challenges, and general financial stress reported by a meaningful portion of the workforce.

That finding shaped the next phase of the Build. TEG trained the Skilled Helpers in financial education — equipping them to guide their colleagues through the areas the needs assessment had identified as most pressing: saving, budgeting, understanding credit and credit repair, and addressing tax delinquency. Rather than bringing in an outside resource, TEG built that capacity from within. TEG then conducted a pilot financial wellness program with a small group of self-selected employees over eight weeks, meeting with them to work through their individual financial situations in depth. The Skilled Helpers shadowed each session, observing and learning in real time. By the end of the pilot, TEG stepped back and walked alongside the Skilled Helpers as they provided these supports independently — ensuring they had the confidence and skills to carry the work forward on their own.

What began as a Discovery grew into a full Build — a sustained investment in the people and infrastructure behind a Fair Chance program built to last.