Dear Friends & Supporters of PEP‚

I am writing to you as a follow–up to our Chairman Mike Humphrey’s letter in December about PEP’s long–term prospects. Thanks to you‚ PEP ended 2009 on a strong note and began 2010 with some very positive events.

First‚ our meeting with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in mid–January went very well. Not only did we emerge with a "clean bill of health‚" we also have a renewed commitment from TDCJ that PEP can continue operating at the Cleveland facility. As this is our most important partnership‚ this was very good news.

Second‚ as you likely read last month‚ the Weinberg Foundation decided that their confidence in our programs was so strong that they would pay out our challenge grant for 2009 — $250‚000! We are still expected to meet a $1.9 million goal in 2010 to receive the final installment of our grant. This payment put’s PEP on solid financial footing so we can focus closely on making sure our programs run smoothly and continue to improve.

Third‚ we are incredibly excited about the start of Class 13. In January‚ we started our largest class ever and to to help welcome these deserving men‚ we had our largest Kick–Off guest list ever‚ with more than 60 executives and graduates on hand to welcome Class 13 into the PEP family! We still have many events ahead of us — including Venture Capital Panel and Concept Day on February 26 and 27. Please join us if you are able by signing up at www.pep.org/rsvp .

Finally‚ my management team and Board have been diligently working these past few weeks to put together a new three–year plan that will help us retain our strong operations in 2010‚ expand the size and scope of our operations by focusing on our resettlement programs‚ provide additional start–up assistance for our entrepreneurs‚ explore pathways for continuing education in 2011 and continue towards our founder’s vision for PEP in Texas by graduating as many men from the Cleveland Unit as possible. We will also work with TDCJ to find new opportunities for growth here and in other states.

I am very proud of my team and am especially proud of the stellar achievements that our graduates produce all the time. You will be receiving a mailer very soon describing one of our key driving values — servant–leader mentality — and highlighting the incredible job that our Re–entry Team does each day in helping our graduates reenter the free world. We have decided to use these mailers as a way to tell our stories and focus attention on our Ten Driving Values — the values that PEP aspires to‚ and what we feel makes us so unique. I hope you find our mailers thought–provoking‚ enlightening and inspiring. We also hope they can be a catalyst for conversations about how to incorporate these values into our daily lives and how PEP can better live these values as an organization.

Thank you for your continued support. We hope to see you in prison!

Warm regards‚
Phi Tran
Acting CEO