PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM, INC.

Our vision is to expand our community of accountability and encouragement until every inmate who is truly committed to change has the choice and the chance to reboot his life. We strive to empower our men to move from being tax consumers to taxpayers; from gang leaders to servant leaders; and from felons to real fathers and even philanthropists.

When someone gets out of prison and stays out, that’s a win. When his children do not go to prison and continue an intergenerational cycle of incarceration, that is transformative.

When a “free world” executive volunteer shares her expertise with an inmate, helping to build his intellectual and social capital, that’s a win. When that volunteer recruits others and becomes a humble advocate for grace and second chances, that is transformative.

PEP aspires to be the facilitator and catalyst for these transformative processes that start in the heart, move through the head, and ultimately find expression in the hands and feet . . . indeed, the very lives . . . of our men and our volunteers.

According to the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center, “When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas . . . Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.”

We will build this robust community with an army of executive volunteers who share with us and our men a passion for education, mentoring and entrepreneurship. Through their engagement, our volunteers will move from knowing the joy of success to experiencing great significance in their lives.

We believe that once we reach at least 10% of the 43,000 that are released from the Texas prison system each year, not only will the PEP experience profoundly impact the lives of the men and women we serve directly, but their values and commitment to positive change will have a dramatic, positive effect on the prospects of all other inmates.

PEP provides a holistic solution for our graduates, from in-prison leadership and business education to robust and results-oriented support once they are released. But we are not alone in our endeavor to transform our clients and the larger community.

PEP relies on other programs and institutions to provide volunteer assistance and expertise so that our program is at the forefront of prison rehabilitation. Working together with our valued partners, PEP can reach more men and deliver the best available program of its kind.

The result? PEP and partners deliver a world-class program with outstanding results. Additionally, with the great partners that we collaborate with, we can more effectively spread the word about PEP and enhance our influence.

Academic Partners:
Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business

In-Prison Partners:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Management and Training Corporation

Participating Entrepreneurship/MBA Programs:
Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business
Dallas Baptist University
Rice University – Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management
Southern Methodist University – Cox School of Business
Texas A&M University – Mays Business School
Texas Tech – Rawls College of Business
University of Dallas – Graduate School of Management
The University of Texas Austin, McCombs School of Business
University of Houston – C.T. Bauer College of Business and The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
University of Houston Downtown—Entrepreneurship Program

Church Partners:
Arborlawn United Methodist Church—Ft. Worth, TX
Christ Chapel Bible Church—Ft. Worth, TX
Faithbridge United Methodist Church—Houston, TX
Fellowship of The Woodlands – The Woodlands, TX
First Baptist Church Athens – Athens, TX
Gateway Church – Southlake, TX
Grace Bible Church—Houston, TX
Highland Park United Methodist Church – Dallas, TX
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church – Houston, TX
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church—Houston, TX
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church – Houston, TX
Watermark Community Church – Dallas, TX
Wilshire Baptist Church—Dallas, TX
WoodsEdge Community Church – Spring, TX

Re-Entry Service Partners:
Caleb House
Covington House
Crossroads Community Services
One Man’s Treasure Clothes Closet
KivaZip Loans
The Lift Fund
PeopleFund (formerly The Plan Fund)
Ways to Work Car Loans
Workforce Solutions
The WorkFaith Connection

Since 2004, PEP has produced the nation’s leading results in the prison rehabilitation industry by dramatically reducing return-to-prison rates while considerably increasing employment rates and business ownership. We are proud of the hard work and results our graduates have achieved.

Our 2,300+ graduates have achieved the following impressive results:

STRONG EMPLOYMENT
100% of PEP graduates are employed within 90 days of release from prison; in fact, our graduates average only 20 days “from prison to paycheck.” We have achieved our employment metric every month since May 2010.

SMALL BUSINESS FORMATION/INCUBATOR
More than 360 businesses have been launched by PEP graduates, including five that generate over $1MM in gross annual revenue.

EXCELLENT JOB RETENTION
Nearly 100% of PEP graduates are still employed after 12 months (compared to a nearly 50% national unemployment rate among ex-offenders).

HIGHER THAN AVERAGE STARTING WAGE
PEP graduates have a $12.20/hour average starting wage (68% above minimum wage.)

EXCEPTIONALLY LOW RECIDIVISM
PEP graduates have an exceptionally low 8.6% three-year recidivism rate (compared to the national average of nearly 50%).

In recognition of our innovative work, PEP has received extensive media coverage as well as the Texas Governor’s Award for Criminal Justice Volunteer Service and a “Rising Star” award from the Monitor Group/Fast Company Social Capitalist Awards. PEP also ranked as a finalist in contests for the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation and the Ashoka Changemakers award.

The above results are a clear indicator that we are effectively pursuing our mission. But we do not rest on our laurels. We are constantly refining, improving, and measuring every aspect of our program and its delivery to ensure we keep delivering results.

In ten years, by 2025, our goal is to be serving at least 4,300 men and women per year. In addition, within that timeframe, we expect our entrepreneurial business enterprises to be employing significant numbers of PEP graduates and to be generating sufficient cash flow to cover at least 30% of PEP’s annual operating expenses.