Catherine Rohr helps ex-cons return to society by learning to start businesses

Christian Science Monitor: Catherine Rohr helps ex-cons return to society by learning to start businesses

Former venture capitalist Catherine Rohr founded the nonprofit Defy Ventures to train ex-prisoners in the ethical and other demands of becoming legitimate entrepreneurs.

… The former venture capitalist has brought the criminals and executives together as part of her new nonprofit group Defy Ventures, aimed at helping prisoners reenter society by putting them through a yearlong entrepreneurship training program and "Survivor"-like competition for $100,000 in seed money to launch their own businesses.

"I have these moments of thinking, 'Is this really happening?' " Ms. Rohr says. "I love business, I love doing deals, but I know why I'm here on Earth."

At a time when bankers and private-equity managers are often vilified as "vulture capitalists," Rohr and her cohort in the top percent are helping the bottom percent. In addition to raising $800,000 in grants and private donations, Rohr has taken out $60,000 in personal loans to fund the program and pay the $15,000 annual tuition for Defy participants – an education that's pricier than a year at a community college but half the average cost of a year's imprisonment in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

Defy's premise is that many of the skills needed on Wall Street – calculated risk-taking, creating an intelligence network, money management – overlap with the Mean Street of drugs and gangs. By bringing together people from both walks of life, Defy aims to provide former criminals with the education, encouragement, and character development to put their skills to positive use.

In 2004, after an introduction to Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship organization, Rohr was inspired to leave the private-equity field to start the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, which provides business management education within Texas prisons. Today, PEP boasts more than 800 graduates, 100 percent employment within 90 days, and a recidivism rate of less than 5 percent, compared with the 40 percent average nationwide. PEP grads have launched some 85 businesses, from carpet cleaning and car detailing.

"Catherine has proven herself with PEP," says Jamyn Edis, a volunteer at Defy and a vice president at HBO. He learned about PEP nearly a decade ago while studying at Harvard Business School, which Rohr had asked for help in vetting prisoners' business ideas. "She's this whirlwind of energy and terrific focus." …