Venture capitalism took on a whole new meaning, as business executives ventured inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison to hear business proposals from some very unlikely entrepreneurs.
On Feb. 22, seven prisoners gave Powerpoint presentations to explain to business executives and community members how they intend to connect California’s entrepreneurial spirit to socially responsible business plans. The event was put on by a prisoner mentorship program called The Last Mile. The audience included prison administrators, visitors, volunteers and more than 100 prisoners.
The presentations marked the final step of The Last Mile program, which aims to help incarcerated men learn how to connect with the digital world, even though they have no internet access, according to business executive Chris Redlitz, the program’s cofounder. Prisoners in the program learn how businesses are created from experts, and how to develop business ideas, based on a genuine desire to better communities at large.
Redlitz said he wanted to show that “technology could offer second chances to incarcerated people.”
At the program’s first Demo-Day last year, James Houston’s Teen Tech Hub showed how far an idea could go. Houston is scheduled to be released from prison by summer and a Richmond company is ready to implement the ideas of Teen Tech Hub.
This year’s presentations revealed what the prisoner’s learned about a world of technology that had previously passed them by.
Chris Schuhmacher told the group, “I am the founder and CEO of Fitness Monkey…an online life coaching service that empowers addiction recovery through physical fitness.”
“The natural high you get from exercise can be transformative,” Schuhmacher said. “When a person decides to get clean, it can mean abandoning their entire social network of friends still involved with drinking and drugs. At Fitness Monkey, members will be able to connect to an online community…for the motivation and support to overcome addiction.”
Schuhmacher stated, “Fitness Monkey is a product of my life and my life sentence.” His vision is “to get the monkey of addiction off our members’ backs and offer the life-changing benefit of getting clean by staying fit.”
“The world has changed a lot in the last 18 years,” prisoner Larry Histon told the audience. “But my passion for technology has not.” Histon said he wants to create a vocational training school called Tech Sage for ex-felons focused on software engineering. Histon knows there is a connection between newly released prisoners having a job and lower recidivism rates. He envisions teaching ex-offenders the skills needed to create applications for an ever-growing device-orientated society—a skill high-tech companies continually seek.
The Funky Onion proposal is premised on the saying, “Beauty is only skin deep,” said founder Jorge Heredia. He said he wants to take produce rejected for size or cosmetic reasons to build an empire that could feed millions, while carving a niche in an $8 billion industry.
“Even produce deserves a second chance,” said Heredia, prompting chuckles and smiles throughout the audience.
Darnell Hill’s Intervention Outlet raises awareness around problems associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hill said when children are victimized or witnesses to violence, they are subject to PTSD. He told the audience that nearly 15 percent of children who experience at least one traumatic event suffer from PTSD.
“The key to dealing with PTSD is to allow the person to be heard without judgment,” he said.
Through Intervention Outlet, users would be able to access counselors through mobile apps, increasing comfort and security. “Assistance without judgment is an important aspect of Intervention Outlet,” Hill said. For those without internet access, his program would provide field mentors by offering resource contact information and community events, he concluded.
Tommy Winfrey’s idea, Art Felt Creations, would hook up art connoisseurs with incarcerated artists in an effort to link visual arts with storytelling.
“When I became incarcerated at a young age, I robbed myself of the ability to appreciate my own talents,” Winfrey said. “I want to give incarcerated artists an opportunity to express themselves, and give the public the opportunity to help someone change for the better.”
With obesity being a leading health concern in America, Heracio Harts said he wants to create a business called Healthy Hearts Institute that would use abandoned homes to host farmers markets or exercise spaces. Harts noted that $190 billion is spent on obesity-related health care costs annually. Urban communities could deal with obesity from a businesses perspective, he added.
The most entertaining presentation, called, At The Club, came from Eddie Griffin. He said his love of jazz gave him the idea of connecting mobile devices to the performances of quality jazz musicians. He said he wants to allow people to have an intimate relationship with the music he loves.
If venture capitalists want to support the projects, the prisoners could receive funding and launch their business after their release from prison. Even if the projects are not picked up, The Last Mile still provides prisoners with marketable skills and opportunities for paid internships in the future.
In addition to training in social media, The Last Mile participants answered questions on the website Quora, where people can ask the men questions about prison. As an example, when Winfrey described what it’s like to murder someone, it became one of the most downloaded answers by viewers of Quora. People were genuinely interested in learning what’s going through the head of a killer, Quora representative Katrina Li said.
“The Last Mile program connects inmates with opportunities that they traditionally cannot connect to,” said California Department of Corrections official Elizabeth Siggins.
“The Blue Print (Future of California Corrections) has a computer literacy component that is designed to help inmates learn skills to better their employment chances after release,” Siggins said. Selected prisons would be opening as reentry hubs this July for inmates who have four years or less to parole, she added.
