This Week in Prison: Class 21 Kickoff!

It’s time to get down!

This Friday, January 24, 2014 we will welcome our newest participants into the PEP family! The event serves as the official launch of Class “Triumphant” 21 in the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. This class begins our march towards the next thousand lives that we will transform with your support.

(We celebrated our 1,000th graduate this past December when Class “Tenacious” 20 earned their diplomas)

During this week’s event, we will share inspiring stories of success from our executive volunteers and past PEP graduates. One-on-one time will also allow you to meet our new recruits! The event runs from 11:30 until 5:00pm, and we would love to have you join us. See schedule to RSVP here.

Can’t visit us in prison? No problem! You can still support Class 21 by volunteering as a BUSINESS PLAN ADVISOR. That’s right … you can volunteer by email! Our staff will send you one email per week with a business plan that is being developed by one of of our participants. You will read it, edit it and provide feedback. Most critically, you will also provide market research for our participants (who lack Internet access while in prison).

The entire volunteer project can be done anonymously, if you would like. This is a wonderful opportunity to invest an hour per week in a program that will truly transform lives. Please learn more and register here.

This Week in Prison: Internal Kickoff of Class 20

Lots going on this week at the Cleveland Correctional Facility … including the launch of Class 20 of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program!

Today, we host our Internal Kickoff event. Most of the nearly 110 men who are entering PEP have been connected to us for months, including our three-month “Prep Class” called Principles of Effective Leadership. 

Today’s event is a celebration of their entrance to PEP with our staff and graduates from past classes. The event that is decidedly NOT like the typical prison experience, as the room is decorated for a party and the atmosphere is one of fun, fellowship and hope!

This is all in preparation for our official Kickoff on July 19, 2013. You can learn more about this event, and register to attend, here:
http://www.pep.org/rsvp/rsvp/

You can also see photos from the last class’ kickoff event here:
http://prisonentrepreneurshipprogram.zenfolio.com/c19kickoff

This week also marks the two-week countdown towards our fundraising campaign. As we announced a month ago, we received a challenge grant of $100,000 that will match EVERY DOLLAR that you donate between now and our July 19, 2013 kickoff.

Your gift of $100 will instantly become $200 through this campaign.

To learn how you can double your impact, please visit our campaign site:
http://pep2013.causevox.com/

Together, we can transform prison!