I am a firm believer in second chances. More than ten million people are released from county, federal, and state prisons back into communities every year. Upon re-entering society, many people are stuck with damaging stigmas. Combine that with a lack of training to propel them into a career, and you have a high probability that they will end up back in prison or on the streets (the National Institute of Justice found that up to 60 percent of formerly incarcerated people are not employed one year after release).
I am proud to partner with Defy Ventures, a nonprofit whose mission is to break this cycle and transform the lives of people with criminal histories by pairing them with business leaders to collaborate along the entrepreneurial journey. They offer a suite of services that includes intensive personal and leadership development, competition-based entrepreneurship training, executive mentoring, financial investment, and business incubation. As a mentor to Defy’s entrepreneurs-in-training (EITs), I’ll be paired with and coach people who formerly led drug rings and gangs on becoming successful business owners, employers, parents, and community leaders.
How It Works
Defy harnesses the natural talents of currently and formerly incarcerated men, women, and youth, and redirects them toward the creation of legal business ventures and careers. By engaging top corporate executives, investors, and entrepreneurs nationally, Defy catalyzes broad scale personal and economic opportunities for people with criminal histories, and shatters perceptions of one of the most stigmatized and overlooked populations in America.
The program provides its EITs with intense, to-the-point, life-transforming, MBA-like training, executive coaching, mentoring, parenting education, character development, and career opportunities. Its signature entrepreneurship program engages EITs in a series of Shark Tank-style business plan competitions judged by renowned thought leaders.
Defy is not only changing the lives of the formerly incarcerated—they also seek to drive deeper meaning into the lives of business leaders and inspire them to evaluate how they use their influence, money, and time. I am really looking forward to my volunteer experience with Defy this summer. I have already been inspired just by listening to the stories of the EITs and learning about the transformational experiences of previous volunteers. In its first year of program operations alone, Defy recruited 1,000 business executives and leaders who invested 8,000+ hours to champion our EITs.
Interested in learning more about Defy, or want to get involved yourself? Visit their website to see how you can take action.