Our Founder

An in-demand executive in the cosmetics industry for more than 35 years, Mark L. Goldsmith rose through the ranks at companies like Revlon, Yves St. Laurent, and Almay before starting his own company specializing in buying and selling commodities and inventories in the cosmetics market. A civic-minded businessman, Goldsmith first visited Rikers Island over 15 years ago, as a volunteer for the “Principal for the Day” program at Horizon Academy, the jail’s high school. He immediately saw in the young men assembled the potential for success, given practical direction and, crucially, the tools and resources for creating stability in their lives upon reentry into their communities.

Goldsmith continued to use his experience and successes in the corporate world to mentor young men who had been incarcerated and were justice-involved. He built GOSO from a volunteer mentorship program to a robust reentry and workforce development organization that now helps more than 1,000 young men each year to achieve educational goals and jobs that lead to careers. GOSO has become a leader in preventing justice-involvement by collaborating with community partners, public defenders, and the courts to identify at-risk individuals who have had contact with the criminal justice system. The organization’s programming and targeted interventions divert young men from entering the justice system and prevent continuing involvement with that system.