Raleigh, NC, September 19, 2022 – LiveSwitch announced today that it will be funding Inmates to Entrepreneurs, the award-winning international nonprofit that provides training for people with criminal records on how to start their own businesses. The announcement comes as LiveSwitch expands its commitment to serving the community as the company grows.
Inmates to Entrepreneurs was founded by LiveSwitch Co-CEO Brian Hamilton more than 30 years ago. The organization has taught entrepreneurship to hundreds of thousands of people with criminal records both inside and outside of prisons.
“At LiveSwitch, our mission is to make the world a better place through human connection,” said Jerod Venema, LiveSwitch Co-Founder and Co-CEO. “One of our core values is responsibility. Specifically, we are committed to managing our team and resources responsibly in order to benefit society. The addition of Inmates to Entrepreneurs to our company is a huge step forward for us in that regard,” Venema added.
Changes to Inmates to Entrepreneurs prompted by the pandemic created further alignment between the mission of LiveSwitch and the work of the nonprofit.
“Our Inmates to Entrepreneurs courses were all in-person before the pandemic but now everything takes place through videoconferencing,” said Brian Hamilton, “The change allowed us to go from reaching small groups of people in specific locations to literally anyone, anywhere. Going virtual was a monumental shift for Inmates to Entrepreneurs and it would not be possible without the type of video technology we enable at LiveSwitch,” Hamilton added
Despite seeking employment at rates higher than the general population, formerly incarcerated individuals are half as likely to get a job because of their incarceration and face unemployment rates five times the national average. The discrimination that these would-be employees experience perpetuates a cycle of economic insecurity and nearly two thirds of formerly incarcerated individuals find themselves back in prison in just three years.
“I am excited about our partnership with LiveSwitch in our efforts to continue to break the trend of recidivism,” noted Lawrence Carpenter, Inmates to Entrepreneurs Chairman and Owner of Superclean Professional Janitorial Service.
Inmates to Entrepreneurs is dedicated to helping people with criminal backgrounds start their own small businesses in order to reduce recidivism and provide a path to economic freedom. As part of its support for Inmates to Entrepreneurs, LiveSwitch is giving the program a perpetual license to its SimplyOn videoconferencing solution.
About LiveSwitch
LiveSwitch provides critical video infrastructure that powers the most engaging and interactive real-time communications and entertainment experiences on the web. Lightning fast and a game changer. This is achieved through LiveSwitch’s reliable enterprise-grade live video streaming platform that enables businesses to embed flexible, secure, scalable and high-quality interactive video, audio and data on nearly any device with ultra-low latency. Visit liveswitch.io to learn more.
About Inmates to Entrepreneurs
Inmates to Entrepreneurs assists people with criminal records in starting their own businesses. It is the longest-running program of its kind. The organization’s goal is to reduce the rate of recidivism in the United States by providing an alternative path to financial stability and success. Inmates to Entrepreneurs has been featured by Good Morning America, CNBC and USA Today and inspired the show Free Enterprise on ABC. To learn more, visit inmatestoentrepreneurs.org.
