After Prison, Dakota Bright Rises From Receiving to AutoCAD Designer at a Gilbert Window Maker

SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD

Gilbert, Arizona · Manufacturing · Reentry, second-chance hiring and internal promotion

Original reporting: Adam Schumes, ABC15 Arizona · October 12, 2026

Dakota Bright spent more than four years in prison before he joined Awake Window & Door in Gilbert in 2023, ABC15’s Adam Schumes reports. He started in the company’s receiving department and has since moved into a job as an AutoCAD designer, according to the report.

Bright works alongside many colleagues with records. The window and door manufacturer has about 110 employees, and roughly 60% of them have been involved in the criminal justice system, ABC15 reports. CEO Scott Gates and Chief People Officer Maria Gates told the station that second-chance hiring is central to the company’s business model and that those employees are held to the same workplace standards as everyone else.

The company has grown quickly. Annual revenue rose from under $100,000 in 2021 to more than $33 million in 2025, it appeared on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list, and it is expanding by another 20,000 square feet, according to ABC15.

Bright’s move from receiving to a design role shows a second-chance employer promoting from within into skilled technical work. For a manufacturer adding space and headcount in the Phoenix area, an internal ladder like this one can fill positions that would otherwise require outside recruiting. Retention and promotion figures from employers like Awake would show whether the pattern holds beyond one worker. This is our analysis; the facts are as reported by ABC15.

Read and watch the original reporting at ABC15 →

Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.

Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Adam Schumes, ABC15 Arizona, October 12, 2026.

This item was sourced and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed under Location Decision’s editorial standards. Second Shift tracks workforce outcomes to inform our broader editorial analysis. All reporting belongs to the credited journalists; read the original story for the full account.