There’s a specific and stereotypical set of activities that spring to mind when you imagine what prison inmates do with their spare time. If there’s a yard, they probably hang out, lift weights, get in fights, organize gangs. If there’s not a yard, they might read books, write letters, get in fights, organize gangs. They don’t write business plans and get giddy over startup ideas.But that’s exactly what’s happening at San Quentin State Prison, about an hour north of Silicon Valley. For the first time this year, the Last Mile program at the maximum security facility helped five inmates learn the ins and outs of social media and entrepreneurship in an effort to connect those who’ve been inside for several years with the technological reality of life on the outside. The tricky part about the future forward program is that many of its participants have never used a computer, and, since prison regulations forbid any contact with the outside world, won’t be able to use on until they’ve served their sentences.The technological limitations hasn’t hampered the Last Mile curriculum too much. In lieu of the internet, the inmates read books like The Dragonfly Effect and The End of Business As Usual and met with guest speakers like Guy Kawasaki and MC Hammer. With the help of volunteers, they also set up profiles and fielded questions on Quora, where people asked them about everything from life in San Quentin to The Shawshank Redemption. Program leaders even set up a Twitter account where the inmates could tweet — although they actually just wrote the tweets on paper and let a volunteer post it online. (“We’re locked down @ the moment cuz a guy got beat up pretty bad on the yard His past bad actions may have caught up to him Just guessing #JC,” reads one tweet from last week. At the end of the program, the inmates had a demo day, just like at a startup accelerator on the outside, and presented their business ideas to a crowd of 50 that included eight investors.The startup ideas themselves actually sound pretty doable. James Houston, an inmate in the first Last Mile class, designed a company called Teen Tech Hub that set up an after school program devoted to teaching 9- to 14-year old kids programming skills. Last Mile founder and entrepreneur Chris Redlitz has already helped get the program off the ground in nearby Richmond. Other startup ideas included converting old city buses into mobile barber shops and a fantasy football program that let users call the plays during the game.Inevitably, Redlitz says the program leans on a long tradition of perseverance in Silicon Valley. “We have to do a lot of work externally to make sure there's a path for them when they are released so they can be successful. They have to evolve their personal brand,” Redlitz told The Wall Street Journal. “I think this resonates better in Silicon Valley than anywhere because failing and getting up and dusting yourself off is something we've all done. These guys have a bigger challenge as they do that. Hopefully this is the start point.”
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