MBA Students and Professors Go to Prison

By Joanna Gaitros Iturbe, Admissions Coordinator for Graduate Business Programs

When Associate Dean Gary R. Carini first heard about the nonprofit Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) in which business executives and MBA students volunteer to help prisoners prepare business plans, he thought it might be a good opportunity for Baylor faculty and students to use their business skills while supporting a worthwhile cause. Carini knew Baylor MBA students and faculty had the expertise to support, encourage, and advise PEP students on how to prepare business plans, but he did not expect the overwhelming response as more than 25 students and faculty members are now volunteering in the program.

Founded in 2004 by Catherine Rohr, PEP helps turn business savvy prisoners into legitimate, successful entrepreneurs. To date, 211 inmates have completed the PEP program with more than 75 projected for completion by the end of 2007. Ninety-three percent of the graduates are gainfully employed. PEP graduates have only a 2.8 percent recidivism rate compared to a 50 percent Texas and a 70 percent recidivism rate nationwide.

The Baylor volunteers are assigned to one student or team so they can become familiar with the PEP students' business plan(s). Helping edit the students' work via e-mail, over the phone and face-to-face on scheduled visits to the Hamilton Unit has proven to be extremely beneficial for both prisoners and MBA students.

MBA student Catherine Gruetzner has gone to prison twice to visit with the students. "I have been amazed at the creativity the students have and their desire to permanently transform their lives. I was inspired by their sincerity and their passion. Many of them have run their own business before--that's why they're in the Hamilton Unit. They have knowledge and confidence, we just have to guide them down the right path--the legal path."

According to a Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin published in March, PEP gives its students the education they need to be legally successful, the hope and vision of a transformed life, and the role models to emulate. Then, they are given support, encouragement, and accountability throughout the reentry process, setting them up for success instead of failure like a majority of exiting prisoners in the United States. With its impact on the executives and MBA students involved, PEP is certainly a two-way street of knowledge and success.

PEP's success can be attributed to CEO Rohr's passion for the prisoners and her efforts to raise funds and to recruit volunteers. When Carini asked Rohr to talk with Baylor students during a weekly Donut Hour about her experience in creating and building PEP, she enthusiastically agreed and ultimately recruited more students than either she or Carini anticipated.

Rohr told Baylor students that as a former venture capitalist, living in a high-rise, penthouse apartment in Manhattan, she wondered--what now? Not even 30 years old, she accompanied a friend to Texas to volunteer with Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministry. Touched by that experience, she found herself filing through her rolodex of more than 4,000 corporate executives to recruit volunteers for a unique investment opportunity. She started PEP by connecting Presidents and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, convicted inmates, and MBA students across the United States. Within three months, Rohr had quit her job, moved to Houston, and set up her first PEP class.

Baylor MBA student Drew Byrd has also visited the PEP students twice. "It's remarkable," Byrd said. The student's are hard workers and filled with the desire to learn. They are so thankful for the help they're getting from their advisors at Baylor. When I left last week, my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much with them."

The primary facility for classes is housed at the Hamilton Unit prerelease compound near Bryan, Texas. In the May issue of Texas Monthly magazine, Katy Vine explains that through multiple interviews and rigorous tests, approximately 50 inmates are selected for the four-month-long series of classes. Teamed with 150 executives and MBAs, they learn how to transfer their skills in illicit business into legitimate business practices. Class curriculum includes presentations, exams and the expected hours of daily homework. Then, prior to graduation, they participate in a business-plan competition judged by well-known executives. (Past judges include Martin G. Foster, the president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, and Robert H. Graham, the chairman of AIM Investments.)

For more information on the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, please visit www.pep.org

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