Bringing Job Loss into the Workforce Conversation

Exitous founder Keita Wangari at the September 2025 Inland Empire Education & Workforce Summit

At Exitous's first local exhibiting event, a small graphic illustrated a big problem: the pit of exhaustion, grief, and financial stress people can fall into between a sudden job loss and their next job.

On September 30, founder and CEO Keita Wangari brought Exitous to the 5th Annual Inland Empire Education & Workforce Summit at the Ontario Airport Hotel and Conference Center. Hosted by the Inland Empire Regional Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Think Together, the summit brought educators, business leaders, and policymakers together to discuss education and the workforce.

For Keita, a Redlands-based founder, it was an opportunity to introduce Exitous locally and explore where support after a layoff intersects with reskilling. Someone preparing for a new career may also be trying to understand benefits deadlines, manage financial uncertainty, and process the loss of a familiar role. While other exhibitors offered education, training, staffing, and other HR services with a focus on pathways into employment, job loss was less visible. This gap made Exitous' presence feel both different and relevant to its mission.

One extended conversation with a faculty director from Cal Poly Pomona's Center for Entrepreneurship turned toward Keita's own path: building a startup as a minority woman, earning acceptance into Techstars, and showing up alongside much larger organizations. They discussed the possibility of her sharing that journey at a student event.

And there were lessons learned: A demo’s audio is hard to hear in a busy event room, and being the only person behind a table can limit opportunities to mingle.

For Exitous, the day marked a first step in building a local presence around a question at the heart of its work: how do we help people navigate everything that happens after job loss, alongside the search for their next role?