Area served United States Founded 2010 | Founder Catherine Hoke Motto "Transform Your Hustle" | |
 | ||
Type Non-governmental organization Focus Ending recidivism and mass incarceration Location New York City, United States Method Entrepreneurship, employment, and leadership training Slogan "Transform Your Hustle" Similar DonorsChoose, Network For Teac, Ashoka | ||
Defy Ventures is a United States-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Catherine Hoke in 2010. The organization's goal is to address the social problems of mass incarceration, recidivism, and related issues by providing entrepreneurship, employment, and character training programs to individuals with criminal histories.
Contents
Prison Entrepreneurship Program
In 2004, Catherine Hoke (Rohr) toured a Texas prison and discovered that many of the incarcerated men she met possessed strong business acumen, sales skills, and entrepreneurial qualities. Several months later, Hoke visited the prison a second time along with executive volunteers and conducted a "Business 101" seminar, during which they ran a business plan competition. Hoke's efforts evolved into the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) which became a statewide organization in Texas. Hoke and PEP received several honors and awards for public service.
Defy Ventures
In 2009 Hoke left PEP and in October 2010 founded Defy Ventures in New York City, with a plan to build a replicable model that would impact urban communities in the U.S. In January 2012, Defy Ventures launched its pilot group of entrepreneurs-in-training (EITs) and in the fall of 2012 opened up enrollment to women.
Defy offers a learning program combining face-to-face and online courses consisting of entrepreneurship training, character development, mentoring, business incubation, financing opportunities and personal development services. In July 2015, Defy launched its CEO of Your New Life program, which teaches job readiness, entrepreneurship, technology basics, personal finance, etiquette, and moral character development, to incarcerated men and women. The program also provides follow-up, with post-release job placement, entrepreneurship startup funding, and mentoring.
As of 2015, over 100 companies have been started by Defy's EITs and over 3,000 business people have become involved as volunteers, judges and mentors for EITs, including Tim Draper, Seth Godin, and Duncan Niederauer as well as several Harvard Business School professors.
In 2015 Google.org contributed to Defy, helping them to expand their program to the Bay Area.