The longest-running program of its kind
About Us

The longest-running program of its kind

Our Mission

Our mission is to assist people with a criminal background in starting their own business by providing entrepreneurship education through in-person and online courses.

Our Vision

Our vision is to reduce the rate of recidivism in the United States by providing a path to financial stability and success.

About the Problem

Every year, over 600,000 people will leave prison and attempt to rejoin their neighbors as productive members of society. 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. In the Google era, a simple web search ensures that no one can ever truly escape their past.

The discrimination that these would-be employees experience perpetuates a cycle of economic insecurity that forces many to return to illegal activities just to survive. It is unsurprising then that nearly two thirds of formerly incarcerated individuals find themselves back in prison in just three years. Inmates to Entrepreneurs is dedicated  to helping people with criminal backgrounds start their own small businesses with free in-person and online education.

Why Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship allows individuals to start their own business and rise above the systemic discrimination they face in the job market. Our work through Inmates to Entrepreneurs provides the education that individuals with a criminal background need to rise above the stigma associated with their conviction and create a path to economic opportunity. We strive to put an end to the revolving door of prisons and reverse the societal harms of recidivism.

About Us

In 1992, two great friends, Brian Hamilton and Reverend Robert J. Harris, started working at prisons to teach inmates how to start their own small businesses. Harris had been doing ministry work at the prisons, and Hamilton tagged along to a session to see the work his buddy was doing.

Why help inmates start their own business?

Hamilton recognized that many employers, if not all employers, would be reluctant to hire people who were formerly incarcerated. Putting himself in the frame of mind of someone in this situation, Hamilton’s thought was: why bother trying to get a job that does not exist — start a business instead.

32 Years Later

32 years later, what began as an adventure of two friends is becoming a national nonprofit, supported by the Brian Hamilton Foundation, dedicated to helping people start their own businesses.

Why Inmates

Why do we use the term Inmates? We use the term Inmates because this was an accepted term at the time of our inception. Plus, it is easy to follow. We respect the accepted term of “judicially involved”, but it is a little long and not always universally understood.

Out of respect to changing terms that might be less damaging to people, aside from our name, we strive to use terms that place less of a stigma on people who have been in prison.

We are intimately aware of the systematic discrimination placed on not just those who have been incarcerated, but on the millions of people who have lesser charges but who have not been physically imprisoned.

The social injustice is massive, affecting people who have committed crimes and those who have to foot the bill for a system that is clearly broken terribly.

What People Are Saying

Get Involved

If you are interested in learning more about Inmates to Entrepreneurs, please send us an email.

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