Business Prison Entrepreneurship Program founder Catherine Rohr to speak at UNC Oct. 5
| Prison Entrepreneurship Program founder Catherine Rohr to speak at UNC Oct. 5 |
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| Monday, September 28, 2009 | |
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Catherine Rohr, founder and chief executive officer of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), an innovative and high-impact prisoner rehabilitation program based in Texas, will be featured speaker at a free public lecture and reception on Oct. 5 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rohr and former offender and program graduate Jason Wang will discuss the program and answer questions at the event, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Maurice J. Koury Auditorium at Kenan-Flagler Business School. A reception will follow in the Kenan Center Dining Room. Those who wish to attend should respond to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Rohr’s nonprofit has helped inmates redirect their ambitions through values-based entrepreneurial training and ongoing support, enabling them to re-enter society as productive citizens. The program’s results include a return-to-prison rate of less than 10 percent, an employment rate of more than 80 percent within 30 days of release and a rapidly growing network of entrepreneurial startups. UNC student Jane Murchison, a senior economics and history major and entrepreneurship minor in the College of Arts and Sciences, arranged Rohr’s visit to inspire students who are interested in using their knowledge and skills to address pressing social concerns. “I thought bringing Catherine Rohr here would be an amazing opportunity to see how ideals can be put into practice,” Murchison said. “She is a person who is pursuing her passion, giving up a high-powered job on Wall Street to start this program. It is inspiring to see the impact PEP has on the lives of its participants and on everyone who comes in contact with the program.” The Oct. 5 event at UNC is co-hosted by the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise with the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative, Minor in Entrepreneurship, UNC Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Campus Y, Governor’s Crime Commission and N.C. Department of Justice. Kenan Institute event Web site: www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/PEP/ Kenan Institute contact: Cyndy Falgout, (919) 401-3548 |