Calling All Business Minds!

We are actively recruiting business executives and MBA students to come alongside our Class 12 participants in the role of Business Plan Advisors. As an Advisor, you will provide both conceptual and grammatical feedback to your assigned participant over a four-month period from August to November. All work is done completely by email, and we highly encourage a trip to prison to meet your participant as well. More information and the opportunity to sign up can be found at www.pep.org/advisors. We hope you’ll be able to get involved and get your hands dirty with our Class 12 participants and their business plans!

Join Us for Class XII Kick-Off!

Help the new PEP participants get Class XII started off the right way, by joining us for our Kick-Off event on Friday July 31st, 2pm -7pm. For more info and to RSVP online, visit our RSVP site.

State of PEP Conference Call

We hope you can join us for a lunchtime meeting to hear about PEP updates straight from Catherine Rohr. The call will be held on Thursday, August 20 from 12:00p to 1:00p CDT. To RSVP, visit www.pep.org/rsvp

Class XI Shines
at BPC and Graduation

Written by David Joekel, PEP Staff
I was recently hired by the Prison Entrepreneurship Program as an Executive Relations Associate and attended the PEP Business Plan Competition and Graduation ceremony at the end of my first week. Having previously attended a prison event in June (Etiquette Night), I only got a small glimpse into what I would later see as a true life transformation.



When I first met the participants at Etiquette Night I was greeted with hugs, not handshakes, and these men were eager to share their enthusiasm for PEP and what it means for their future. Some were excited about the thought of starting their own business, while others looked forward to starting a new life with their families and becoming better fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons. Fast forward to the Business Plan Competition and Graduation, and I had turned into something of a nervous parent rather than a PEP employee. I peeked in to watch the participants give their business plan presentations to a panel of CEOs and executives from all over the country, and I was amazed.


The executives were amazed, too, and many commented that the business plans were some of the best they had ever heard. What I expected to hear or see was the participants thanking the executives, but in the end it was the executives thanking the participants. Some of these CEOs and executives have been leading employees and organizations for years, yet have never experienced the transformation that these men have accomplished through such an unlikely place and opportunity.

Read Full Story Here

View Pictures from BPC and Graduation here.

Straight from the Inside

With BPC and Graduation behind them, Class XI participants are looking back on their experiences with fresh perspectives. Check out their thoughts in their weekly journals, an excerpt of which is below:

"We have learned that practice makes perfect. Well, we will be perfect by the end of this week, because we are in an endless trade-off between practicing the graduation walk and presenting our pitches for the Business Plan Competition. We are walking, talking, gown-wearing, aspiring entrepreneurs and happy to be so. I have never seen such a positive attitude on such a large group of prisoners in my whole life."

Read More Journals Here