Defy Ventures, Inc.

Defy Ventures is a national nonprofit whose mission is to shift mindsets to give people with criminal histories their best shot at a second chance through entrepreneurship, career readiness, and personal development training programs delivered both in prison and in the community. Defy’s vision is to cut recidivism (return-to-prison) rates in half by leveraging entrepreneurship to increase economic opportunity and transform lives. Defy helps currently and formerly incarcerated people defy the odds in prisons, transitional facilities and in the community in eight states across the country. Together with the thousands of business executives and leaders in our network, we are helping to shift the conversation and landscape of opportunity for people with criminal histories. Defy operates program across nine states, including: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Utah, Washington, and California.

Volunteer Opportunities:
Defy has many ways for individuals and groups to serve as volunteers in all states where we operate. We have prison-based in-person volunteers opportunities for business coaching and business pitch competitions as well as virtual volunteering for our community-based entrepreneurship programs. You can find all available volunteer opportunities by region at volunteer.defyventures.org.