Leadership Training and Business Education
At PEP, we guide our men every step of the way, that’s why our process with candidates starts from when they’re in prison. We provide men with the tools they need to start their journey of building their lives after prison through our Leadership Academy Correspondence Course.
What is the
Leadership Academy Correspondence Course?
The LACC is the starting point for the new men that we recruit into PEP. It starts with an acceptance letter to each recruit, and if they do the work on the assignment, we send them Module 1 and Module 2 which is much more work.
The Leadership Academy Process
Along with the acceptance letter, the assignment that we ask the participant to do is “what would a life well lived look like to you delivered at your passing on” (in the form of a eulogy that will be written by the participant as it will be delivered by a friend or family member).
Module 1
Is doing the necessary work to review their past and accept the mistakes that they have made along with a self-evaluation/inventory of their character and image.
Module 2
One of the assignments is for the new recruit to tell us to “envision the man that I will become”.
Our hope is that the new recruit with be able to connect the dots between their past life and what led them to get to where they are today, the introspection/analysis that they can do right now where they are, and to get a reset from PEP to a new vision for their future.
Business Education
The 4-month “mini-MBA” is the core of our in-prison business education, taught by PEP staff, board members, and business executives lecturing on topics within their areas of expertise.
Our Business Plan Competition Content
The Business
Plan Competition
Much is given to help our men transform, but much is expected from them in return.
Each student is required to conceive a business that he would start upon release.
The team will work with our executive volunteers to perfect the business’s marketing, financials, and overall concept.
The top business ideas are selected, and the owners will build a team with their peers to develop a business plan.
Each team will then pitch their business to another group of executives to see which ideas are most likely to succeed.
The student will provide a 1–2-minute elevator pitch to a group of executive volunteers who will judge the pitch on viability and innovation.
Formal Graduation
After completing the immersive and intense in-prison program, participants will graduate in a cap-and-gown ceremony held within the prison.
PEP strongly encourages family and friends to attend directly following BPC. This event is often the first time families have seen their loved ones truly follow through and accomplish their goals.
In cases where hardship would prevent family members from attending graduation, PEP provides financial assistance to defray some of the costs of traveling to the graduation.
Certification
In recognition of the rigors of our program, the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business provides every PEP graduate with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship.
This certificate is a genuine college certificate that does not have the word “prison” anywhere on it, making it highly valuable to potential employers as well as future investors in these graduates’ businesses.
Graduates can also earn certificates for completion of our in-prison financial literacy program, our Toastmasters course, and the Men’s Life program.
