Prison Entrepreneurship Program

The mission of Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) is to unite executives and inmates through entrepreneurial passion and servant leadership to transform lives, restore families, and rebuild communities.

Established in 2004, PEP disrupts the cycle of poverty and incarceration plaguing marginalized communities in Houston and Dallas, Texas. Using values-based education, holistic reentry services, and entrepreneurship empowerment, we transform men, strengthen their families, and rebuild communities for inclusive and lasting economic impact.

Our revolutionary Survive to Thrive model is a data-supported pathway to economic mobility with measurable outcomes and impacts confirmed by multiple third-party verifications:

• Average speed to employment of 25 days post-release (100% employment in 90 days),
• Average starting wages above the low-income threshold (<=50% AMI),
• Post-release wage growth to moderate-income (50 to 80% AMI) at year one and to middle-income (80 to 120% AMI) at year 3,
• 46 percent home ownership,
• 700+ businesses started,
• $1.6M in client-owned business loan originations; and
• Two-thirds reduction in 3-year recidivism.

PEP is entering a pivotal phase of growth; by enhancing our technology and strengthening our curriculum, we aim to expand our impact until every inmate truly committed to change has the opportunity to reboot his life.