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Charting a Path from Criminality to Opportunity

Houston, Texas – February 27-28, 2013

An Economic Opportunity Event for Donors

Hosted by The Philanthropy Roundtable 

Co-hosted with Texas Public Policy Foundation and Conference of Southwest Foundations 

Co-sponsored by the Greater Houston Community Foundation

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This solicitation-free event is open to individual donors, private foundation trustees and staff, and corporate giving staff who annually distribute at least $50,000 in charitable donations. There is no fee to attend.

Prison Site Visit – February 27

Program for Philanthropists – February 28

Nearly 1 out of every 31 Americans is now in prison or on parole or probation. Of the more than 700,000 prisoners who are released each year, up to 70 percent will return to prison within a few years partly due to the challenges they face in finding housing, getting jobs, and rebuilding their lives. Additionally, the 7.3 million children who have a parent in prison are at extremely high risk of entering the criminal justice system themselves. How can we break this cycle? At this event, policy experts, nonprofit leaders, and donor speakers will share innovative solutions to the growing problem of incarceration and recidivism.

Schedule of Events: 

Wednesday, February 27

• Noon to 5:30 p.m. Prison Entrepreneurship Program site visit to the Cleveland Correctional Center. Complimentary transportation will be provided from the Houstonian Hotel.

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program at the Cleveland Correctional Center connects executive volunteers with prison inmates through a "mini MBA" program that has equipped 100 percent of recent graduates to find employment within 90 days of release and trained over 100 of them to start their own businesses. This optional site visit will take a closer look at how this program has delivered an 80 percent reduction in recidivism.

Thursday, February 28

• 9:00 a.m. – Opening Remarks and Public Policy Challenges in Criminal Justice
• 10:30 a.m. – Leveraging Community-Based Organizations in Reform
• Noon Luncheon – Innovating New Approaches to Justice
• 1:45 p.m. – Private Action and Philanthropy in Criminal Justice Reform

Click here for the full event agenda.

Confirmed Speakers Include:

• Tim Dunn, CEO, CrownQuest Operating, and board member, Texas Public Policy Foundation
• Adam Gelb, director, Pew Center on the States, Public Safety Performance Project
• Steven Goodman, director, Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation
• Ingrid Johnson, director, City of Newark's Office of Reentry
• David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention & Control, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Marc Levin, director of the Center for Effective Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and senior policy advisor, Right on Crime
• Jim Liske, CEO, Prison Fellowship Ministries
• Patrick O'Brien, chairman of the board, Rogers-O'Brien Construction, and advisory board member, Prison Entrepreneurship Program
• Donald Ross, founder, M+R Strategic Services
• John Sage, founder and executive director, Bridges to Life
• Sandy Schultz, president and CEO, the WorkFaith Connection

Accommodations:

Please visit our logistics page to learn about accommodations and transportation options for this event.

This solicitation-free event is open to individual donors, private foundation trustees and staff, and corporate giving staff who annually distribute at least $50,000 in charitable donations. There is no fee to attend.

For additional information about the content of this program, please contact Jo Kwong, director of Economic Opportunity Programs, at [email protected] or at 202.822.8333.