you
so an old man walks into a bar that’s me
and there’s a note from my favorite
Russian not Putin his name is Egor
Rostov he’s a former software developer
and strategic thinker I’ve he’s worked
for me in the past and he says I need to
check out something called defy ventures
de FY actually he’s more insistent he
says there’s an event happening on July
23rd 2016 and then I’m required to be
there and when your favorite Russian
says you have to do something of course
you do and that begins the tale of how I
ended up in prison give you a little
background I’ve been as she said I’ve
been the CEO or co-founder of eight
different technology companies over 25
years I’m currently a small-time venture
capitalist which means that I write
checks and then run companies into the
ground I serve on boards of directors I
spend additional time mentoring young
entrepreneurs I go to pitch fest some on
panels and I find this work somewhat
satisfying but I’m also be set by the
nagging suspicion that many of my young
charges and entrepreneurs don’t really
listen very well but they really want is
just money and they seem to be afflicted
with a disease of personal entitlement
this room is excluded from that of
course so Igor challenges me to do
something harder mentoring inmate
prisoners inmates people behind bars you
know go spend some time in a level for
maximum security prison and do your
mentoring there it’s easy to do it with
your favorite PhD computer scientist
from UCSD but see if you can make a
difference with a more challenging group
of individuals and as I pointed out Igor
can be very direct so welcome to defy
ventures the five ventures is a program
developed by a woman named Katherine
Hoch she has an amazing story you can
see it online go to defy ventures org
she brings entrepreneurship training and
principles into the prison before they
get out it’s currently in 21 prisons in
California New York and just started in
Nebraska now as a nice lady said I write
a column on entrepreneurship every week
it runs on the front page of the
business section of the local rag the
San Diego union-tribune but I’m sure
that nobody in this particular audience
gets the paper
but it is online and I’ve been doing
this column for almost five years so I
decide that I’ll interview Katherine
Hoch before I agree to go up and schlep
to the prison in the middle of nowhere
which is in Lancaster California at a
minimum I’ll get a good column out of it
I do the interview and she is in fact
the real deal she is compelling
charismatic convincing you can read
about her she is truly a force of nature
and so I agree that I will go to
participate in the defy program in
California State Prison in Lancaster on
July 23rd but when the interview ends
she tells me directly that after my day
in prison she’s going to ask me for
money and my headed to DES let’s be fair
I’m a venture capitalist people do it
every day
and I’m good at also being able to say
no now to do these adventures you need a
wingman common so I call a pal of mine
named Marc Bowles he’s easy to Google
he’s a guy with some hard knocks a few
failures but he recently crushed the
ball with a company called ecoATM he
sold it for over 300 million and so he’s
all-in goes down like a stone and so the
two of us are set for some prison time
commencement speakers you’re going to
have one in a couple weeks I gather they
will always tell you to wear sunscreen
it turns out on July 23rd the
temperature in Lancaster was a sunny 109
degrees but you can forget the sunscreen
you’re going to be in prison
next problem how to get to Lancaster
from San Diego it is 180 miles in a car
with bowls for three hours not going to
happen so we decide to rent a private
plane now this is really an important
moment got to get real here these two
bums are going to spend the day in
prison and they’re arriving to do their
good deeds in a private plane this is
called disconnect city and later we will
noodle on that marvelous word privilege
but for now we’ll go to prison so on
this day we go there are 55 inmates they
are called IITs entrepreneurs and
training that’s how they’re addressed
and there’s if a 55 of them and 19 of us
then 11 men and eight women they come
mostly from Los Angeles the two of us
came from San Diego who are the
volunteers it’s fascinating they’re all
over the map technologists some work in
nonprofits summer school teachers summer
lawyers summer religious practitioners
the range is broad there is no easy
pattern just people who feel the need to
give back to connect to make a
difference and we’re not quite all in
yet but it’s a good thing to get out of
your comfort zone after all it’s a
Saturday if we didn’t go to prison I
would have played golf and he would have
surfed so we’re going to reset some
personal priorities now before you go to
prison or more accurate before they let
you get into prison
there are rules lots of rules you need
to fill out forms you need to get a
clearance I’m going to tell you it might
be easier to get it if you just rob the
bank no cell phones no electronics no
nothing except your keys and as for
clothing very clear rules here they tell
you what to wear black and white no blue
no jeans no blue so of course one of the
volunteers shows up in a blue blazer but
what do you expect he was a lawyer from
Los Angeles so we’re sitting in the
waiting room the waiting room before you
go into the prison and the warden comes
in and welcomes us and explains the
rules again the one I like the best he
says no hostages I mean what do you mean
if you’re taken hostage we don’t do
anything for you they don’t negotiate
oh so you’re somewhere between oranges
the new black and NCIS Los Angeles you
can see some twitching in the room
they’re a bunch of good-looking very
buffed out guard standing there it seems
pretty safe but when you get inside the
prison this is the best part so the
event takes place in a big room like the
the you know a basketball court there’s
a sign on the wall in English in Spanish
there’s a parapet it says no warning
shots fired I didn’t really understand
it what that means is shoot to kill no
warning shots so welcome to their world
program runs all day we meet we talk
they do personal statements resumes we
review and discuss their business plans
it’s a five month program one of the key
themes of défi is to guide the EITS to
develop those personal elements to have
them begin to think like entrepreneurs
and it’s fascinating it’s moving it’s
compelling it is scary and what you
think is you’re going to change their
lives but in fact it changes yours
program runs for five months there’s
lectures video lessons plans whatever
now I want to tell you about the most
powerful event of the day it’s called
walk the line so let’s do a line here
so what happens is the volunteers stand
five steps back from the line and the
EITS they stand five steps behind on
their line I’m going to tell you that
this little program they have reduces
you too emotional puddle of confusion
and feelings you have not experienced
ever so what happens is Miss Hoke reads
certain sentences like I dropped out of
high school the I tease they’re all on
the line volunteers no one and so the
the sentences go on you begin to see
things about each other says I’m a
natural born hustler kind of 50/50 I
regularly feel judged by others for skin
or economic status lots of EIT is on the
line I grew up in poverty and this is
boom Shakalaka time my buddy Bowles
stands on the line so what you begin to
see is you don’t know a lot about the
other people it’s kind of interesting my
parents paid for braces when I was a
child
no EITS so you can begin to see these
are serious stuff I’ve been arrested
several the volunteers are on the line
this is pretty interesting and I’m
telling you you can you’re only five
steps from each other you can see this
here’s the heartbreaker
I’ve lost a child lots of people stand
on the line so I had my thoughts about
the EITS but but surprise me as I told
you is the volunteers you never know
what lurks in the past of your friends
when you see them step the line and it
reminds you deeply of your shared
humanity there’s some darkness in all of
us and we exorcise those demons in many
ways one of them is to give back to the
least among us which these gentlemen are
so you get the message here this is real
stuff and when you look across the line
at the other person you realize they’re
not going home tonight
and there are some other things and some
tears and some hugs and it moves you now
I like to quote Warren Buffett Buffett
said I won the ovarian lottery when I
was born white male healthy smart and
growing up in America and it tends to
remind you about gratitude and good
fortune and privilege so the day ended
and as promised miss hope comes up to me
and says she
what’s each of us me and Bowles to give
her $500 they’re a nonprofit they need
money they ask for it their biggest
contributors are Google Microsoft and
other Silicon Valley venture funds and
miss Hoke is shameless
and you gotta love her for it so she
says I want the 500 bucks and we say no
but this is what she’s not used to
getting that I know so my quick response
though is tell you what I’ll do if
you’re willing to bring the program to
Donovan Donovan is the state prison in
San Diego at the border if you bring it
to San Diego I’ll raise you $100,000 my
assessment is simple I care about my
community and these guys at Donovan it’s
a level 4 maximum-security federal
prison and when they get out they’re
going to be my neighbors in this city so
if I’m going to write a check I’m going
to do it in my town it’s a little
parochial I’m not totally proud of it
but you know think local so here’s the
next big connect me and goals we get in
the plane we fly home 54 minutes later
I’m on the ground 12 minutes later he
land at Montgomery I go to Emerald
seafood I’m sitting there with my wife
and I have the WTF moment let’s see now
you want to spend the day in prison you
fly home at a private plane you’re
having dinner and these guys go back in
their cells that little epiphany took a
little time to digest if you will so
Sunday afternoons the next day I get a
call from the executive vice president
of defy lives in New York and he says
blah blah blah I’m interested in
discussing blah blah blah and I’m not a
blah blah guy so I say I tell you what
if I promise to raise you a hundred
grand will you or will you not come it
you know it’s like a prosecutor will you
come to San Diego because they weren’t
planning to come on San Diego so he gets
this hesitation kind of you can hear
this on the phone kind of like oh you’re
sort of like no hatton have all hat and
no cattle like you’re really going to be
able to do this now but I make him a
promise I said you give me 60 days 100
grand and you promise to do a two-year
program at Donovan
told you I write a column in the local
newspaper so I write the column about my
day in prison and it ends with a little
last paragraph you were interested in
participating in
Adventure here’s my email my email is
easy to find now I have a secret weapon
I have a wife her name is Barbara Bree
she’s actually the city council person
for district 1 which is your district
it’s neither here nor there I happen to
think she’s gorgeous smart and beloved
by all that cannot be said necessarily
about her husband but it turns out that
three years ago she was picked through
one of the local heroes she was a big
shot for Women’s History Month watch the
event was sponsored by KPBS it was
underwritten by Union Bank I write the
article in the paper and the lady three
years earlier who had given my wife the
award her name is Kathy Pat off she runs
the foundation at Union Bank she says
I’m in you’re in for $50,000 turns out
that prison education recidivism
entrepreneurship seems to be one of
their things so now I’m halfway home
then I wrote the article so I start to
get emails I get 57 emails from tip L
I’ve never heard from Joe Dokes Betty
Boop and they agree that they will
contribute somewhere between and this is
the truth 25 dollars was the least 2000
was the most and from the 57-38 people
put up $27,000 me and my bums a couple
of my pals we put a forty grand if you
add that to the 50 of Union Bank lo and
behold I call up the character in New
York and I say time to deliver a deal’s
a deal so sure enough this is the nature
of entrepreneurship you sort of love
exceeding expectations I didn’t think he
thought that I thought that he thought I
got him so angelee on January 27th this
year they launched their program at
Donovan and the first 55 guys are in the
program now I’m going to push you a
little bit it’s easy to give money it’s
going to prison though just to be a
volunteer for a day it’s a little like
going down to father Joe on Thanksgiving
you serve turkey you take your children
it feels good you go home you watch
football you have a beer so what you
can’t do is you can’t that’s
the the trick in this prison
entrepreneurship business is repetition
for effect
no drive-by shooting hello and goodbye
you got to commit
the first time I teach I now teach at
Donovan twice a month and the first time
I came back the second time I got a
standing ovation and the reason is
nobody comes back a second time so if
you do it you’ve got to be all-in so me
and Bowles go to the next event in
Lancaster this is the graduation
it occurs in September now they got 55
volunteers and they got some big shots
from the venture firms in Los Angeles
two people that I love Mark Suster and
Brad Feld and it’s quite a day they
pitch there’s business plans it’s a
shark tank and it ends with a real
competition and a graduation and there’s
some winners they get the money when
they get out there’s a cap and gown
graduation ceremony and it crushes you
in terms of the enormity of the feelings
because their families are there and the
families are going to go home but they
don’t so what I’m going to tell you is
it reminds you deeply of the shoes you
walk in I’m always struck by one comment
from all of the prisoners that I’ve ever
interacted with everyone 100% say that
when I get out I will never do that
stupid thing again I’m not ever coming
back and the answer is statistically 32
percent of them do come back it must be
for the food they can’t seem to stay
away but the people who take the defy
ventures program their rate of
recidivism is 4 percent 4 so you can’t
argue with numbers data scientists
something must be working now they have
another thing they say we’ve all done
things that were illegal that could have
landed us in jail but we didn’t get
caught drugs drunk driving shoplifting
maybe worse without luck or a good
lawyer we’d be the inmates not the
volunteers it’s important to remember
those kind of things so I got a couple
of final stories and then I’m done I end
up going all-in at Donovan I now teach
as I said twice a month I teach to CGA
everybody knows but that is criminal
gangs Anonymous of course that’s the
equivalent for gang members of
Alcoholics Anonymous and I also written
a couple books you can find them online
and I want to point out that I am now
currently the best-selling author in
prison
take that John Grisham
so here’s the final story in the
afternoon there’s an exercise where the
volunteers stand in a circle facing out
and the EITS go around us so you stay
seated you stay standing and and the
EITS the inmates and you get four or
five six minutes with each of them so
over the next 45 minutes you meet eight
or nine different people you talk to
them you understand what they’re up to
the final guy arrives the last guy stops
right in front of me he’s about 60 he’s
black
most of the prisoners of course are
either black or Hispanic there’s a few
white the natural diversity of a prison
I won’t go into that now here’s what you
got to grab he’s got one tooth one tooth
one tooth right in the front he begins
to tell me about himself he’s been in
prison 32 years but he makes a point of
thanking me I’d been called out as one
of the promoters of de5 he thanks me for
this chance for bringing defi to the
prison he’s really grateful really
grateful and then he looks me hard in
the eye you cannot turn away from this
guy and here’s what he says word for
word I pray for you every night Wow stop
the madness pal I live in a million
dollar home in the top of a hill in La
Jolla and you’re praying for me there’s
something going on so needless to say at
that moment I had a bit of trouble
keeping my balance I my world was
spinning and I was looking at myself in
a hall of mirrors and distortions and
wonderment at the nature of the ovarian
Lottery and there it was be grateful my
friends because there but for the grace
of God go I always there but for the
grace of God
you
so an old man walks into a bar that’s me
and there’s a note from my favorite
Russian not Putin his name is Egor
Rostov he’s a former software developer
and strategic thinker I’ve he’s worked
for me in the past and he says I need to
check out something called defy ventures
de FY actually he’s more insistent he
says there’s an event happening on July
23rd 2016 and then I’m required to be
there and when your favorite Russian
says you have to do something of course
you do and that begins the tale of how I
ended up in prison give you a little
background I’ve been as she said I’ve
been the CEO or co-founder of eight
different technology companies over 25
years I’m currently a small-time venture
capitalist which means that I write
checks and then run companies into the
ground I serve on boards of directors I
spend additional time mentoring young
entrepreneurs I go to pitch fest some on
panels and I find this work somewhat
satisfying but I’m also be set by the
nagging suspicion that many of my young
charges and entrepreneurs don’t really
listen very well but they really want is
just money and they seem to be afflicted
with a disease of personal entitlement
this room is excluded from that of
course so Igor challenges me to do
something harder mentoring inmate
prisoners inmates people behind bars you
know go spend some time in a level for
maximum security prison and do your
mentoring there it’s easy to do it with
your favorite PhD computer scientist
from UCSD but see if you can make a
difference with a more challenging group
of individuals and as I pointed out Igor
can be very direct so welcome to defy
ventures the five ventures is a program
developed by a woman named Katherine
Hoch she has an amazing story you can
see it online go to defy ventures org
she brings entrepreneurship training and
principles into the prison before they
get out it’s currently in 21 prisons in
California New York and just started in
Nebraska now as a nice lady said I write
a column on entrepreneurship every week
it runs on the front page of the
business section of the local rag the
San Diego union-tribune but I’m sure
that nobody in this particular audience
gets the paper
but it is online and I’ve been doing
this column for almost five years so I
decide that I’ll interview Katherine
Hoch before I agree to go up and schlep
to the prison in the middle of nowhere
which is in Lancaster California at a
minimum I’ll get a good column out of it
I do the interview and she is in fact
the real deal she is compelling
charismatic convincing you can read
about her she is truly a force of nature
and so I agree that I will go to
participate in the defy program in
California State Prison in Lancaster on
July 23rd but when the interview ends
she tells me directly that after my day
in prison she’s going to ask me for
money and my headed to DES let’s be fair
I’m a venture capitalist people do it
every day
and I’m good at also being able to say
no now to do these adventures you need a
wingman common so I call a pal of mine
named Marc Bowles he’s easy to Google
he’s a guy with some hard knocks a few
failures but he recently crushed the
ball with a company called ecoATM he
sold it for over 300 million and so he’s
all-in goes down like a stone and so the
two of us are set for some prison time
commencement speakers you’re going to
have one in a couple weeks I gather they
will always tell you to wear sunscreen
it turns out on July 23rd the
temperature in Lancaster was a sunny 109
degrees but you can forget the sunscreen
you’re going to be in prison
next problem how to get to Lancaster
from San Diego it is 180 miles in a car
with bowls for three hours not going to
happen so we decide to rent a private
plane now this is really an important
moment got to get real here these two
bums are going to spend the day in
prison and they’re arriving to do their
good deeds in a private plane this is
called disconnect city and later we will
noodle on that marvelous word privilege
but for now we’ll go to prison so on
this day we go there are 55 inmates they
are called IITs entrepreneurs and
training that’s how they’re addressed
and there’s if a 55 of them and 19 of us
then 11 men and eight women they come
mostly from Los Angeles the two of us
came from San Diego who are the
volunteers it’s fascinating they’re all
over the map technologists some work in
nonprofits summer school teachers summer
lawyers summer religious practitioners
the range is broad there is no easy
pattern just people who feel the need to
give back to connect to make a
difference and we’re not quite all in
yet but it’s a good thing to get out of
your comfort zone after all it’s a
Saturday if we didn’t go to prison I
would have played golf and he would have
surfed so we’re going to reset some
personal priorities now before you go to
prison or more accurate before they let
you get into prison
there are rules lots of rules you need
to fill out forms you need to get a
clearance I’m going to tell you it might
be easier to get it if you just rob the
bank no cell phones no electronics no
nothing except your keys and as for
clothing very clear rules here they tell
you what to wear black and white no blue
no jeans no blue so of course one of the
volunteers shows up in a blue blazer but
what do you expect he was a lawyer from
Los Angeles so we’re sitting in the
waiting room the waiting room before you
go into the prison and the warden comes
in and welcomes us and explains the
rules again the one I like the best he
says no hostages I mean what do you mean
if you’re taken hostage we don’t do
anything for you they don’t negotiate
oh so you’re somewhere between oranges
the new black and NCIS Los Angeles you
can see some twitching in the room
they’re a bunch of good-looking very
buffed out guard standing there it seems
pretty safe but when you get inside the
prison this is the best part so the
event takes place in a big room like the
the you know a basketball court there’s
a sign on the wall in English in Spanish
there’s a parapet it says no warning
shots fired I didn’t really understand
it what that means is shoot to kill no
warning shots so welcome to their world
program runs all day we meet we talk
they do personal statements resumes we
review and discuss their business plans
it’s a five month program one of the key
themes of défi is to guide the EITS to
develop those personal elements to have
them begin to think like entrepreneurs
and it’s fascinating it’s moving it’s
compelling it is scary and what you
think is you’re going to change their
lives but in fact it changes yours
program runs for five months there’s
lectures video lessons plans whatever
now I want to tell you about the most
powerful event of the day it’s called
walk the line so let’s do a line here
so what happens is the volunteers stand
five steps back from the line and the
EITS they stand five steps behind on
their line I’m going to tell you that
this little program they have reduces
you too emotional puddle of confusion
and feelings you have not experienced
ever so what happens is Miss Hoke reads
certain sentences like I dropped out of
high school the I tease they’re all on
the line volunteers no one and so the
the sentences go on you begin to see
things about each other says I’m a
natural born hustler kind of 50/50 I
regularly feel judged by others for skin
or economic status lots of EIT is on the
line I grew up in poverty and this is
boom Shakalaka time my buddy Bowles
stands on the line so what you begin to
see is you don’t know a lot about the
other people it’s kind of interesting my
parents paid for braces when I was a
child
no EITS so you can begin to see these
are serious stuff I’ve been arrested
several the volunteers are on the line
this is pretty interesting and I’m
telling you you can you’re only five
steps from each other you can see this
here’s the heartbreaker
I’ve lost a child lots of people stand
on the line so I had my thoughts about
the EITS but but surprise me as I told
you is the volunteers you never know
what lurks in the past of your friends
when you see them step the line and it
reminds you deeply of your shared
humanity there’s some darkness in all of
us and we exorcise those demons in many
ways one of them is to give back to the
least among us which these gentlemen are
so you get the message here this is real
stuff and when you look across the line
at the other person you realize they’re
not going home tonight
and there are some other things and some
tears and some hugs and it moves you now
I like to quote Warren Buffett Buffett
said I won the ovarian lottery when I
was born white male healthy smart and
growing up in America and it tends to
remind you about gratitude and good
fortune and privilege so the day ended
and as promised miss hope comes up to me
and says she
what’s each of us me and Bowles to give
her $500 they’re a nonprofit they need
money they ask for it their biggest
contributors are Google Microsoft and
other Silicon Valley venture funds and
miss Hoke is shameless
and you gotta love her for it so she
says I want the 500 bucks and we say no
but this is what she’s not used to
getting that I know so my quick response
though is tell you what I’ll do if
you’re willing to bring the program to
Donovan Donovan is the state prison in
San Diego at the border if you bring it
to San Diego I’ll raise you $100,000 my
assessment is simple I care about my
community and these guys at Donovan it’s
a level 4 maximum-security federal
prison and when they get out they’re
going to be my neighbors in this city so
if I’m going to write a check I’m going
to do it in my town it’s a little
parochial I’m not totally proud of it
but you know think local so here’s the
next big connect me and goals we get in
the plane we fly home 54 minutes later
I’m on the ground 12 minutes later he
land at Montgomery I go to Emerald
seafood I’m sitting there with my wife
and I have the WTF moment let’s see now
you want to spend the day in prison you
fly home at a private plane you’re
having dinner and these guys go back in
their cells that little epiphany took a
little time to digest if you will so
Sunday afternoons the next day I get a
call from the executive vice president
of defy lives in New York and he says
blah blah blah I’m interested in
discussing blah blah blah and I’m not a
blah blah guy so I say I tell you what
if I promise to raise you a hundred
grand will you or will you not come it
you know it’s like a prosecutor will you
come to San Diego because they weren’t
planning to come on San Diego so he gets
this hesitation kind of you can hear
this on the phone kind of like oh you’re
sort of like no hatton have all hat and
no cattle like you’re really going to be
able to do this now but I make him a
promise I said you give me 60 days 100
grand and you promise to do a two-year
program at Donovan
told you I write a column in the local
newspaper so I write the column about my
day in prison and it ends with a little
last paragraph you were interested in
participating in
Adventure here’s my email my email is
easy to find now I have a secret weapon
I have a wife her name is Barbara Bree
she’s actually the city council person
for district 1 which is your district
it’s neither here nor there I happen to
think she’s gorgeous smart and beloved
by all that cannot be said necessarily
about her husband but it turns out that
three years ago she was picked through
one of the local heroes she was a big
shot for Women’s History Month watch the
event was sponsored by KPBS it was
underwritten by Union Bank I write the
article in the paper and the lady three
years earlier who had given my wife the
award her name is Kathy Pat off she runs
the foundation at Union Bank she says
I’m in you’re in for $50,000 turns out
that prison education recidivism
entrepreneurship seems to be one of
their things so now I’m halfway home
then I wrote the article so I start to
get emails I get 57 emails from tip L
I’ve never heard from Joe Dokes Betty
Boop and they agree that they will
contribute somewhere between and this is
the truth 25 dollars was the least 2000
was the most and from the 57-38 people
put up $27,000 me and my bums a couple
of my pals we put a forty grand if you
add that to the 50 of Union Bank lo and
behold I call up the character in New
York and I say time to deliver a deal’s
a deal so sure enough this is the nature
of entrepreneurship you sort of love
exceeding expectations I didn’t think he
thought that I thought that he thought I
got him so angelee on January 27th this
year they launched their program at
Donovan and the first 55 guys are in the
program now I’m going to push you a
little bit it’s easy to give money it’s
going to prison though just to be a
volunteer for a day it’s a little like
going down to father Joe on Thanksgiving
you serve turkey you take your children
it feels good you go home you watch
football you have a beer so what you
can’t do is you can’t that’s
the the trick in this prison
entrepreneurship business is repetition
for effect
no drive-by shooting hello and goodbye
you got to commit
the first time I teach I now teach at
Donovan twice a month and the first time
I came back the second time I got a
standing ovation and the reason is
nobody comes back a second time so if
you do it you’ve got to be all-in so me
and Bowles go to the next event in
Lancaster this is the graduation
it occurs in September now they got 55
volunteers and they got some big shots
from the venture firms in Los Angeles
two people that I love Mark Suster and
Brad Feld and it’s quite a day they
pitch there’s business plans it’s a
shark tank and it ends with a real
competition and a graduation and there’s
some winners they get the money when
they get out there’s a cap and gown
graduation ceremony and it crushes you
in terms of the enormity of the feelings
because their families are there and the
families are going to go home but they
don’t so what I’m going to tell you is
it reminds you deeply of the shoes you
walk in I’m always struck by one comment
from all of the prisoners that I’ve ever
interacted with everyone 100% say that
when I get out I will never do that
stupid thing again I’m not ever coming
back and the answer is statistically 32
percent of them do come back it must be
for the food they can’t seem to stay
away but the people who take the defy
ventures program their rate of
recidivism is 4 percent 4 so you can’t
argue with numbers data scientists
something must be working now they have
another thing they say we’ve all done
things that were illegal that could have
landed us in jail but we didn’t get
caught drugs drunk driving shoplifting
maybe worse without luck or a good
lawyer we’d be the inmates not the
volunteers it’s important to remember
those kind of things so I got a couple
of final stories and then I’m done I end
up going all-in at Donovan I now teach
as I said twice a month I teach to CGA
everybody knows but that is criminal
gangs Anonymous of course that’s the
equivalent for gang members of
Alcoholics Anonymous and I also written
a couple books you can find them online
and I want to point out that I am now
currently the best-selling author in
prison
take that John Grisham
so here’s the final story in the
afternoon there’s an exercise where the
volunteers stand in a circle facing out
and the EITS go around us so you stay
seated you stay standing and and the
EITS the inmates and you get four or
five six minutes with each of them so
over the next 45 minutes you meet eight
or nine different people you talk to
them you understand what they’re up to
the final guy arrives the last guy stops
right in front of me he’s about 60 he’s
black
most of the prisoners of course are
either black or Hispanic there’s a few
white the natural diversity of a prison
I won’t go into that now here’s what you
got to grab he’s got one tooth one tooth
one tooth right in the front he begins
to tell me about himself he’s been in
prison 32 years but he makes a point of
thanking me I’d been called out as one
of the promoters of de5 he thanks me for
this chance for bringing defi to the
prison he’s really grateful really
grateful and then he looks me hard in
the eye you cannot turn away from this
guy and here’s what he says word for
word I pray for you every night Wow stop
the madness pal I live in a million
dollar home in the top of a hill in La
Jolla and you’re praying for me there’s
something going on so needless to say at
that moment I had a bit of trouble
keeping my balance I my world was
spinning and I was looking at myself in
a hall of mirrors and distortions and
wonderment at the nature of the ovarian
Lottery and there it was be grateful my
friends because there but for the grace
of God go I always there but for the
grace of God
you
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