PEP focuses on overcoming the challenges faced by individuals reentering society after incarceration, including:  

• Employment discrimination: PEP prepares and aides returning citizens who want to launch their own business, and/or assists with the skills needed to ensure their employment earning a livable wage. 
• Limited education and skills: PEP helps to develop the character and teach the skills needed for successful entrepreneurship, even if they don’t become one.  PEP also works within a network of employer partners and assisting agencies to provide the skills and opportunity needed for thriving. 
• Housing instability: 1st and 2nd tier housing is available for those who need it (depending on availability)
• Social isolation: The same community of volunteers who work with participants in prison are the same group who work with them out of prison – often for years beyond. 
• High recidivism rates: We have learned that employment is helpful, but character is mandatory.  Year after year, PEP’s program sees less than 10% return to prison after release. 

Inside Prison:

• Entrepreneurship education: A rigorous business curriculum taught by volunteer business leaders and certified by Baylor University. 
• Character development: Life skills, moral decision-making, and values-based lessons.
• Servant Leadership:  Participants help facilitate the lessons they learned to the next class behind them, all the while learning to hone their skills around 15 topics areas of leadership.

Outside Prison:

• Reentry support: Assistance with housing, basic needs, employment, and case management.
• Business incubation: Mentorship, capital access, and networking opportunities through the PEP Collider program.
• Capital Investment: Once business ideas are developed enough, PEP prepares entrepreneurs to be loan-ready, and can supply a loan to qualified individuals through Entre Capital.

As published in an article in Forbes, According to our new data at the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, formerly incarcerated individuals are more than twice as likely to become entrepreneurs than their never-incarcerated peers. An estimated 3.5 million U.S. business owners—10.6% of all entrepreneurs—have spent time behind bars. These business owners not only rebuild their own lives—they create jobs for others, employing more than 2 million people nationwide.  According to AEO, returning citizen entrepreneurs earn 11% more than formerly incarcerated individuals in traditional jobs, and experience 33% lower recidivism rates.

PEP has delivered exceptional outcomes:

• Recidivism rate: Less than 10%, far below state averages.
• Employment: 100% of graduates secure jobs within 25 days of release.
• Income: Graduates earn above the low-income threshold at job placement.
• Homeownership: 46% of graduates achieve homeownership.
• Business success: Over 700 businesses launched by PEP alumni.

PEP stands out for its holistic approach, combining:

• Values-based education: Focusing on personal transformation and entrepreneurial skills.
• Comprehensive reentry support: Addressing immediate and long-term needs starting behind prison walls and continuing on the outside. 
• Community-building: Connecting participants with a robust support network of mentors, alumni, and business leaders, and facilitating a level of engagement for mutual learning.

You can support PEP in several ways:

• Donate: Your financial contributions directly fund PEP’s life-changing programs.
• Volunteer: Share your expertise by mentoring, teaching, or participating in events.
• Advocate: Spread the word about PEP’s mission and successes within your network through your social media platforms and your personal connections.

• Website: Visit www.pep.org for detailed information.
• Email: Reach out at info@pep.org.
• Phone: Call PEP at 832-767-0928.
• Social Media: Follow PEP on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms for updates and stories.