Mission

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) is a social enterprise non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that unites executives and inmates through entrepreneurial passion and servant leadership to transform lives, restore families and rebuild communities.

About PEP

Since 2004, PEP has pioneered an innovative program that connects the nation’s top executives, entrepreneurs and MBA students with inmates. Our in-prison entrepreneurship boot camp and re-entry programs are proven, metric-driven, holistic solutions for maximizing self-sufficiency, transforming broken lives and reducing recidivism.

PEP has recruited thousands of senior level executives to serve as volunteers, business plan competition judges and mentors. More than 800 business school students from 40+ MBA programs across the country serve as advisors for the inmates’ business plans.  PEP has graduated more than 2,700 inmates (who have started 500+ businesses), maintained a 100% employment rate within 90 days of release, and achieved a 3-year recidivism rate of under 8%.  An independent study by Harvard’s ICIC showed that PEP makes an annual $122M GDP impact in Texas resulting in $4.3M total State and Federal tax savings to deliver a 794% 5-year return on investment.