Defy Ventures Illinois

There is an estimated sixty-eight million Americans with criminal records who continue to suffer the collateral consequences of their prior convictions. Currently 2.3 million people reside within the carceral state. The need for enough high quality rehabilitative programming inside prison remains unmet, and without programming that begins in prison and bridges into a positive community upon release, returning citizens have limited odds of a successful reentry. Defy works to change the hearts and minds of the business community in support of a common thesis that people with a criminal history deserve a fair chance to reentry society and fulfill their potential. Our program, CEO of Your New Life, teaches employment readiness, personal development and well-being, reentry preparation and entrepreneurship. Upon release, graduates are connected to our supportive, redemptive community that links them to jobs and resources. We also have a Business Incubator with access to seed capital to support micro-enterprises.

In the United States, 6.7 million people live under some form of correctional control. Specifically, 2.3 million people are incarcerated in state and federal prison, and 4.5 million are under community supervision--which includes people who are on probation and parole. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, absent intervention, the national 3-year recidivism rate is 67.9%. The United States' legacy of mass incarceration directly stems from pervasive and historically racist policies and decades of public divestment in low-income and minority communities. 

Specifically, in Illinois, 25,000 people release from state prison each year. Many of them are black and brown--and they return to communities that have cruelly and disproportionately been targeted by law enforcement. They are not provided with resources and services to meet their needs upon return. 

Employment is a critical factor contributing to success returning from prison: A study conducted by the Manhattan Institute and Real Clear Politics indicates that approximately 70% of formerly incarcerated adults are unemployed one year after their release. The Prison Policy Institute reports that “formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27% — higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression.”

CEO of Your New Life is administered in prisons and transitional facilities throughout the country. It is a 6-9 month course and typically cohorts of 50 individuals can engage in it at a time. Classes meet twice per week for 2.5 hours each session. The course is facilitated by a Defy-trained staff member and is augmented by peer facilitation of graduates who have taken the course previously. The course is a four book series comprised of nearly 1200 pages of content informed by subject matter experts in the fields of employment readiness, personal development, reentry preparation and entrepreneurship. The academic component is married with experiential milestones--a coaching day at the midway point where up to 50 business executives come to prison and review resumes, personal statements and business concepts and at the culmination--a 'Shark Tank' style business pitch competition and graduation. Participants receive a certificate from Defy and there is a formal graduation ceremony where the loved ones of the participants are invited to share in their accomplishments. Following graduation, and when individuals parole, they can connect with Defy for additional services including employment and reentry support and for those who want to start their own business, our Incubator.

Defy serves currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. In Illinois, 54% of individuals who go to state prison return to about 7-8 neighborhoods on the South and West sides of Chicago--some of the most racially segregated parts of America. These areas are known to be economically marginalized. Defy serves men, women and young people impacted by the criminal justice system. Our work seeks to interrupt the intergenerational cycles of abuse and financial disempowerment that has gone on since the advent of slavery and Jim Crow. We know that black people are incarcerated at five times the rate of while people, while Hispanic people are twice as likely to be incarcerated as white people. The median wages of individuals prior to their incarceration is 41 percent less than non-incarcerated people of similar ages. This remains true across racial/ethnic and gender lines. In addition to targeting people of color and low-income people, the criminal justice system reflects a failure of public systems to invest in the education and health of people living in these communities. 

Defy's services will create financial independence for our participants and also increase their feelings of self-efficacy. We will open hearts and minds by challenging perceptions and stereotypes.

Defy recognizes and cultivates entrepreneurial talent among an underserved population and offers a selective business incubator program for individuals who are both ready and able to pursue the launch of a small business. Our program model meets these participants where they are at, while setting realistic timelines and expectations for launching and growing their businesses. We provide access to seed capital through grants and loans (from partner agencies) for participants who complete the program. This program has already started to scale--we are in seven states throughout the country and are building out our infrastructure here in Illinois. 

Defy’s methodology comprises tried and tested strategies for reaching our objective. Defy has provided post-release entrepreneurship programs since 2012 and our experience has led us to refine our methods for more successful and effective programs. Our methods set us apart: our bridge to in-prison populations, our holistic and flexible programming and curriculum, and our replicable model. 

Defy begins the process of preparing people with criminal histories for entrepreneurship by working inside prisons and transitional facilities to provide a 6- to 9-month program called CEO of Your New Life (CEO YNL)—an entrepreneurship, career readiness, and personal development training program. The CEO YNL program provides a pipeline of prepared EITs for our entrepreneurship pathway program. This is a tremendous advantage as most other programs are not able to start program preparation while individuals are incarcerated.

Defy’s program model is aligned with the “Well-Being Development Model for Reentry” evidence-based framework, which focuses on five key areas: meaningful work trajectories, healthy thinking habits, positive coping strategies, positive social activities, and positive social relationships. This holistic approach builds personal and professional resilience so that EITs are equipped to become successful entrepreneurs. Because our entrepreneurship pathway is not full-time, it allows EITs to hold jobs or enroll in higher education programs while also pursuing their business. This allows us to serve a wider range of people than if our program were full-time.

Defy has had success scaling because of our curriculum, brand equity, program expertise, and our national network of affiliates and employer partners. 

The theory of change encompasses:

Healthy thinking patterns: Adaptive mental actions or processes, the presence of empathy, and the acceptance or internalization of values and norms that promote pro-social behavior;

Meaningful work trajectories: Sustainable compatibility of an individual’s goals and skills with the demands of that individual’s occupation and obligations;

Effective coping strategies: Adaptive behavioral and psychological efforts taken to manage and reduce internal and external stressors in ways that are not harmful in the short or long term;

Positive social engagement: Social experiences organized for beneficial social purposes that directly or indirectly involve others, engaged in during discretionary time, and experienced as enjoyable; and

Positive relationships among participants: Reliable, mutually beneficial relationships between two people that range from brief to enduring in duration within formal or informal social contexts.

Defy measures outcomes along two stakeholder trajectories: our EITs, and our volunteers. We see these two stakeholders as central to the success of the model. Our EITs benefit from mentorship, support, and compassion from our volunteers. Our volunteers gain empathy, perspective, and possible future employees from our EITs.

Short-term outcomes for EITs include measures of the facets of well-being, including meaningful work trajectories, healthy thinking patterns, effective coping strategies, positive social engagement, and positive relationships. Short term outcomes for volunteers focus on the development of empathy for people with criminal histories.

Medium-term outcomes for EITs include behavioral change, employment readiness, and personal development, while medium term outcomes for volunteers include increased advocacy for and employment of people with criminal histories.

The separate outcome trajectories for EITs and volunteers converge into unified long-term outcomes focused on the greater social good. Long-term outcomes for both groups include increased network capacity, the development of a community of support, improvements in carceral facilities, sustainable employment, decreased recidivism, and family stabilization.

In the long term, Defy drives toward system-wide changes including shifts in societal perceptions and public policy, improved public safety, increased economic capacity,

Additionally, we encourage EITs to participate in the program and stay active with Defy from the in-prison CEO of Your New Life program through our post-release alumni program and business incubator.

Currently, 849 participants have been enrolled in our in custody program throughout all Defy locations throughout the country. In Illinois, we served 50 individuals at the Kewanee Life Skills Reentry Center. Our goal is to conduct another cohort of 50 individuals at Kewanee and then launch at a second facility, Logan Correctional Facility (a female facility) to serve 50 incarcerated women. We also anticipate that we will serve 10-15 people in the community in our Bootcamp and Incubator programs.

Defy has a model for growth that is rapidly scalable and can add value to existing reentry organizations through our curriculum, brand equity, program expertise, and our national network of affiliates and employer partners. We grow smartly, choosing financially stable partners with proven capabilities and community credibility in the reentry or criminal justice space who are looking for true partnership to build on their existing services and relationships. We do not grow by dropping uninvited into communities that have existing successful providers with established and complex relationships, nor do we seek to offer wrap-around services. We seek to build programs that create durable--not temporary--change and create strong organizational systems that measure and support our impact. We operate with intentionality and think deliberately about our mission, values and vision considering how to operate effectively, stay relevant, create value and achieve sustainability.  

The need for enough high quality rehabilitative programming inside prison remains unmet, primarily due to lack of sustainable sources of funding and buy in from correctional systems. Additionally, while employment represents the single most important factor in decreasing recidivism, too few employers are open to hiring applicants with criminal histories. Without a concerted effort to change the hearts and minds of the public, specifically members of the business community, the lack of post-incarceration hiring will remain a fundamental obstacle to the successful reintegration of returning citizens. 

Defy Ventures is a nonprofit and the majority of our funding sources, while varied, is not earned income. The revenue that we generate outside of donations comes from licensing fees that we collect from affiliate partners that run our CEO YNL program. 

However, since 2010, Defy has garnered financial support from over 5,500 donors, including individuals, foundations, government sources, and corporations (e.g. Google, American Express, Capital One, Yelp). A unique aspect of Defy’s programs is the active involvement of private sector volunteers (e.g. CEOs, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists), who serve as donors, mentors, coaches, employers, business pitch competition judges, and champions to EITs inside and outside of prison. 

According to our most recent audited financial statements from 2019, Defy’s funding sources are broken down as follows: 39% foundations, 8% corporations, 37% individuals, 9% government, and 7% other sources (such as speaking and licensing fees). In 2018, this breakdown was 52% foundations, 12% corporations, 27% individuals, 4% government, and 5% other sources. 

We also work to create dialogue with our donors to be Fair Chance employers to foster access to meaningful work trajectories.

And, by articulating our 8% recidivism rate and 84% employment rate, correctional partners see how our programs aid them in achieving their missions of increasing public safety. 

Defy Ventures is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Defy's newest chapter is located in Illinois and serves within the Kewanee Life Skills Reentry Center as well as hosts a series of post release services including an Entrepreneur Bootcamp as well as a Business Incubator, specifically to empower EITs towards financial independence and provides access to individuals who previously may not have obtained educational and vocational opportunities through traditional pathways.

Defy Ventures has 14 FTE, 10 PT, 2 consultants. Defy Ventures Illinois has one staff member, Melissa O'Dell, who serves in the Executive Director role.

From the start, Defy has hired individuals with lived experience, many of them graduates of the program and this is what makes us poised to be leaders in the field. Our team are credible messengers who can relate to the experiences of what the participants are going through and can address their concerns in a tangible manner. Because we are “closest to the problem, we are closest to the solution.” As survivors of mass incarceration, we use our experiences to help others, advocate for change and stand proud as real world examples that with hope, perseverance and persistence, amazing things can happen. We are uniquely positioned to use this expertise to guide the conversation around reform and re-imagine what a truly inclusive justice system and economic system is for all Americans.

Defy Ventures Illinois is building partnerships with reentry organizations to create a continuum of care for clients exiting the justice system. Formal MOUs include the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago and Talk2Me Foundation.  Preliminary conversations with Teamwork Englewood and Safer Foundation has yielded strong enthusiasm for building collaboratives that leverage their expertise and experience to best serve returning citizens. Each of these organizations have services that Defy does not offer, but through robust referral partnerships we can ensure that participants are connected to the vital resources they need. However, nationally, Defy Ventures has strong partnerships in various domains--most prominently in employment. These partnerships are currently defined by informal agreements in which the organizations agree to grant interviews to qualified Defy EITs. Current employment partners include: P.S. Kitchen (NY), Dr. Bronner’s (CA), Telzio(CA), Metropolis (CA), Checkr (CA), Proterra (CA), and the Hudson Yards Project(NY). Our employment partners are central to increasing opportunities for the formerly incarcerated and proof that we are making progress in shifting mindsets about people with criminal histories. Each formerly incarcerated person who finds employment is a step toward breaking cycles of recidivism, family separation, and economic instability in our communities. Defy has an 84% employment rate for its program graduates.

Defy Ventures is a non-profit. We provide reentry preparation and support to individuals who are currently incarcerated and returning citizens. Defy develops pathways to financial stability through training, employment connections, mentorship and entrepreneurial incubation. We develop a unique community of support for justice-involved individuals and a network of employers who are willing to interview our graduates for permanent, not transitional employment. We engage stakeholders--including hiring agents and volunteers-to change perceptions of people with criminal histories and promote the benefits of working with our participants.

In particular, Defy provides its programming within state prisons as well as transitional facilities. We also utilize a blended learning environment for our post release services, which include our Entrepreneur Bootcamp and Business Incubator. 

The Bootcamp is a free online course which overs 27 entrepreneurial topics. At the end of the Bootcamp, participants can pitch in a Showcase for admittance to the Business Incubator. Participants read chapters contents, watch supplemental videos, respond to online reflection and discussion questions and upload key deliverables. When Bootcamp participants business ideas are aligned with Defy's criteria for business incubation, they are invited to community and business coaching events where they can receive feedback on their ideas from executives who volunteer with Defy.

At any time after six months but within eighteen months of admission to the Business Incubator, participants who are in good standing have the option to pitch at the Investment Committee for seed funding. The Investment Committee allows participants to receive in-depth feedback from volunteers as well. 

All our services are free of charge to participants. Defy raises philanthropic dollars to support our work. We apply for grants from governmental entities at the local, state and federal level. We also partner with foundations and corporations to sustain operations. In addition, Defy leverages its volunteer community who are regularly individual donors, especially within regions where Defy serves. 

Defy Illinois is applying to Solve to gain insight on building a new chapter of the national organization. We hope to leverage the relationships, expertise and network of the Solve community to bring sustainable change to Illinois. 

With additional mentorship and guidance to enhance our fundraising strategy, Defy would increase its impact and be able to serve more EITs. As with many non-profits, the ability to garner sustainable, general operating funds poses a consistent challenge and this has a negative effect on service delivery. Defy exists to address a gap within the provision of support for people leaving prison and returning to the community. Supporting efforts such as Defy are even more vital now within today's current social and political landscape.

We would welcome the opportunity to partner with MIT faculty as guest speakers and as subject matter experts in our curriculum. We would also like the faculty and students to be volunteers as mentors, coaches and judges at Business Pitch Competitions. 

We would also like to work with the Solver community of organizations as many of them can be viable employment partners for Defy EITs. By increasing diversity and inclusive, employers can strengthen their own operations, but also create opportunities for individuals who may not have had access to long term career pathways.

Defy is qualified for this prize because we set ourselves apart through our track record of innovative programs to meet the needs of formerly incarcerated people reentering society. Defy began its post-release programs in 2012, quickly realizing that a program that relied only on in-person instruction was not highly scalable or cost-effective. Defy now leverages a blended learning model, combining the scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of video-based training with life-transforming opportunities for growth through in-person coaching and mentoring. Defy began serving inside prisons in 2015 to create a holistic “inside-out” approach to improving outcomes for people with criminal histories. Our entrepreneurship pathway and other programs also leverage the power of our volunteer network, which includes business leaders and executives who believe in our mission and the potential of EITs to create successful businesses. Our empathy-building events create humanizing connections and engage volunteers deeply in our work that open up opportunities for EITs in the workplace and in their own businesses. 

Defy has proven experience in this realm and has launched 140+ EIT businesses since beginning our post-release program. We have iterated and improved our program to better prepare EITs for the entrepreneurship pathway (through rigorous prerequisite training) and to help them to achieve success.    

Defy already has the necessary components in place to recruit and enroll EITs in the entrepreneurship pathway. We can begin deployment upon receipt of the award and begin enrollment in the first month. Mentorship, workshops, and curriculum work can begin after enrollment in the entrepreneurship pathway.