Checkmate for the Inmate: From Bars to Business

Jersey City, NEW JERSEY. (April 21, 2025) - Reentry calls for incredible resilience, determination, and a strong support system. For those look1ing to rebuild their lives after incarceration, this journey often involves a significant change in perspective, restoring trust with authorities, communities, and families alongside a renewed sense of purpose.

Wendy Oliveras has crafted a valuable and practical guide in Checkmate for the Inmate: From Bars to Business. Her book offers a framework for tackling these challenges, leveraging her ten years of experience teaching life skills and entrepreneurship to incarcerated individuals, which shaped her understanding of effective strategies for promoting personal growth, hope, and reintegration.

The Foreword provided by James E. McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey and Executive Director and Chairman of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC), is an essential contribution to the book.

McGreevey stated, “The journey of Reentry is an opportunity for growth, mental and physical wellness, and behavioral transformation. Individuals can reclaim their lives with dignity and purpose through careers, education, mentorship, and entrepreneurship. Checkmate for the Inmate is a powerful guide for those undergoing this process, equipping returning citizens with the knowledge and confidence to navigate their Second Chance.”

Checkmate for the Inmate highlights entrepreneurship as a way to achieve self-reliance. Wendy Oliveras encourages inmates,formerly incarcerated individuals, and veterans to use their creativity and determination to build businesses that will change their lives. This approach aligns with NJRC's mission to create opportunities for personal and professional growth.

The book covers such topics as: Taking the Plunge into Self-Discovery; The Time Has Come for Change; Taking a Chance at Entrepreneurship; Starting My Business; Money Matters; Credit Guide; Endgame Move; among others. Oliveras aspires for each reader to apply the workbook as a means for self-discovery, thereby gaining insight into entrepreneurship and the necessary steps to initiate their own business. Furthermore, she hopes that every inmate and ex-offender will find enjoyment in playing chess, utilizing the game's strategies as a tool for achieving future success.

In addition to authoring the new book, Oliveras is a third time author, having released her first award-winning book “Let’s Play SHESS: Succeed in your game of life and business by playing chess – from Pawn to Queen” in 2012 and “Checkmate for Business Startups: Tactical Advantages from Gameboard to Life” in 2021.

Oliveras is the Creative Founder & CEO at SHESS Global Alliance, LLC, and a business consultant for the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Rutgers University-Newark. She provides guidance, consultation, and mentorship to entrepreneurs and inventors on launching, scaling, and expanding their businesses. She also facilitates several of their workshops and webinars. Her advisory and training services cater to companies in the corporate, education, non-profit, and government sectors.

The author Wendy Oliveras is available for media interviews and speaking engagements. She can be reached at (201) 344-1099 or wo@shessglobal.com. Find out more about SHESS Global Alliance, LLC at https://www.shessglobal.com/ or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).Checkmate for the Inmate is now available at amazon.com and bookbaby.com.