San Quentin’s Mount Tamalpais College sponsored an entrepreneurship workshop, with aspirations of bringing a curriculum to the prison.
The Defy Ventures Entrepreneurship workshop was the first of its kind at the facility. More than 50 SQ residents attended the event, held in the prison’s Education Annex (B-Building).
The program’s aim is to reduce recidivism, with a nine-month holistic career readiness and business development-training program.
Cory McNeil, a former SQ resident and employee of MTC, introduced the host Scott Taylor. Taylor is a Defy Ventures Manager. He has an MBA from Cornell University and has worked with the Colgate and Trident corporations.
“You are going to fail, you are going to fail a lot, you must fail to get better,” Taylor said. “We want you to increase your likelihood of success. We encourage you to fail hard and fast. If you fail 600 times, you have found out 600 ways things do not work.”
Taylor then introduced a former graduate who participated in the program while in prison.
John Shoppe-Rico, an SQ resident, told residents that he graduated from the program while at California State Prison-Kern Valley. He said that by becoming a CEO, he learned how to control himself in a progressive world, with plans for success.
“[I learned] how to get back on my feet in a positive way. I hope when I return to the community, I can work with DV,” Shoppe-Rico said. He added that the program elevated his “street hustle to another level, but in a legal way.”
Quan Huynh, a successful businessperson, had served over 20 years. He graduated from Defy Ventures while incarcerated. He now runs his own business that hires people with criminal backgrounds.
Huynh is the CEO of Jade Janitors; the initial startup cost was $1,800. His company generated an average of $77,000 annually. Since its start, Jade Janitors has grossed more than $300,000 yearly, according to a Defy Ventures flyer.
According to the program flyer, the DV model offers training in entrepreneurship while people are serving time. It also provides support on the reentry journey. The flyer states that DV will train students to find “proper “employment once released and that a primary focus of DV is to find funding to bring the program to San Quentin.
Taylor told the audience that the program offers advice in making a business plan. He added, “Make a list of potential problems people may have. If you determine they do not have those problems scratch them off the list. Try to think about how frequently people use a product and or a service.”
DV aims to increase well-being and to foster the development of skills and tools in the direction of success for people returning to society. The program provides two ongoing post-release directives, called Career and Entrepreneurship Pathways, as stated in the program’s flyer.
Taylor said that because the curriculum is trauma informed, it is particularly helpful to those with adverse childhood experiences. “Take the things you learn about business and apply them to yourself,” he said.
According to the host, the Defy Ventures program is available on the outside as well. The program is the same on the inside, and there is no fee. If you do not take the program on the inside, DV suggests that once you are paroled, you obtain stable housing before applying to the program. It takes at least six months to get settled.
The outside program is online, but the group is established in two Calif. Cities: Oakland and Los Angeles, in the Wilshire District. People paroling in those areas will find the program easy to access.
The DV program is also available at CSP-Los Angeles (Lancaster), CCI-Tehachapi, California Training Facility and Salinas Valley Prison in Soledad, and CSP-R.J. Donovan in San Diego.
At the end of program, there is a business idea pitch, and the winning participants receive funds to support their business ideas when paroled. Once paroled, people become the CEOs of their companies. DV will then partner you with a network of people who have completed the program.
For more information, contact Entrepreneurship Program Manager Alex Toutant at atoutant@defyventures.org
