When you walk into a room, are people looking at you and thinking about the best thing you’ve ever done or the worst? While most of us might hope it’s the former, anyone who’s served a prison sentence is likely fearing they are known for the worst thing they’ve ever done and nothing else.
How do you change that dynamic? How can you reinvent yourself while feeling as though you’ve got a stamp on your forehead that makes people turn away before you have an opportunity to prove you’re more than your prison sentence? How do you put your life together after serving your time?
Cat Hoke wondered about these, and many more, questions. She took her questions directly to the people who live in our prison system, and has begun to change the lives of people who are released from our prison system after serving their time.
Cat founded Defy Ventures, an organization that “transforms the lives of business leaders and people with criminal histories through their collaboration along the entrepreneurial journey.” Why would this organization be called Defy Ventures? Because, as the website points out, defy means: “to challenge to do something impossible.”
In providing a second change to people convicted of crimes, Defy and its program participants face some tough statistics:
- More than 66% of the 650,000 people released from State or Federal prisons each year will be re-arrested within three years.
- 70% of children whose parents are incarcerated will find themselves incarcerated as well.
- The recidivism rate for the 100,000 juveniles released from correctional facilities, State or Federal prisons each year is 55 to 75%.
The results of Defy’s program to date are impressive:
- Recidivism rate for those completing the Defy’s program is less than 5%.
- 165 startups founded, creating 350 jobs.
- 83% income increase and 95% employment rate within 7 months of enrolling in Defy program.
It’s not been an easy path for Cat, who received a second chance herself. You can watch Cat explain her personal history with second chances, and watch graduates of the Defy program talk about their success after receiving a second from Defy Ventures in this video. Seth Godin’s publishing company, Domino, will be releasing Cat’s book, A Second Chance, in February. After watching the video in the above link, scroll down the page and sign up to stay in the know about the progress of this book.
Do a good turn today, and put an extra spring in your step: give someone in your life a second chance. I’ve yet to meet someone who has never said or done something they’ve regretted. We all need people to look past the worst thing we’ve done. Thanks, Cat, for giving people the tools to spiral upward.
