On December 8, 2011, Babson College will host a major fundraising event—From Offender to Entrepreneur—to benefit Venturing Out, a New England based non-profit that teaches entrepreneurship to incarcerated men and women who want to create their own businesses after their release.
The centerpiece of the event is the Boston premiere performance of The Castle, a play written by and originally performed off-Broadway by four ex-offenders. The Castle interweaves their real life stories from childhood to crime to leading straight and sober lives filled with hope and courage. Through emotionally compelling monologues, the play conveys a powerful message about the challenges that ex-offenders face and societal treatment of people coming out of prison.
The Castle is being directed by Shira Milikowski, Artistic Director Fellow at the American Repertory Theater and the assistant director of the Tony-award winning Broadway revival of HAIR. “I am thrilled to support Venturing Out in its important mission and to be collaborating on this event. The true life stories that come together in The Castle are equally sobering and inspiring. I know they'll serve as a moving and effective jumping-off point for the evening's conversations,” says Milikowski.
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The performance will be followed by a panel discussion, Working Together to Achieve Economic Independence. Moderated by WBUR senior reporter David Boeri, the panel participants include leaders in the criminal justice, business and government sectors: Andre Porter, Executive Director, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Peter J. Koutoujian, Sheriff, Middlesex County; and John Larivee, CEO, Community Resources for Justice.
EVENT INFORMATION
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From Offender to Entrepreneur: Working Together to Achieve Economic Independence
Location: Sorenson Center for the Arts, Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Date and time: December 8th, 7pm.
Tickets can be purchased online at: Brown Paper Tickets or through Venturing Out, or call 617-279-2421 x 704
Ticket prices range from $15 for students to $150 for patron-level premium seating and a pre-show reception.
EVENT SPONSORS
The event will be hosted by Babson College, the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. Babson president Len Schlesinger will speak at the event. “"Entrepreneurship is an extraordinarily powerful force for social and economic value creation—whether it occurs in grade schools, traditional not for profits, or when people are making the transition from incarceration to everyday life—Venturing Out is one more proof point of the power of entrepreneurship to shape and change lives,” says Schlesinger.
In addition to Babson, Community Resources for Justice is an event sponsor. CRJ supports our most challenged citizens, working with individuals in, or at risk of being in, the adult or juvenile justice systems and individuals transitioning out of these systems back to their communities.
The event’s key corporate sponsor is Faber Daeufer Itrato & Cabot, a business law firmfocused on clients in the drug and life sciences industries, and in emerging technology sectors including clean tech and cloud computing. “Because our firm focuses on counseling entrepreneurs and emerging companies, we see thevalue of business and leadership skills. We believe entrepreneurship provides an opportunity to not only provide income and jobs, but also to build community. We’re very excited about Venturing Out’s program, and the goal of using entrepreneurship training to enable individuals to create successful lives within our society,” says Joe Faber, co-founder and principal of Faber Daeufer Itrato & Cabot PC
About Venturing Out, Inc.
Venturing Out is a Massachusetts-based non-profit agency that improves economic self-sufficiency outcomes for high-risk and court-involved populations by increasing their access to entrepreneurial/career opportunities and business development support. The agency’s key program is a 12-week self-employment/microenterprise course, Entrepreneurship 101, taught to near-release incarcerated men and women. Through the course, Venturing Out seeks to teach men and women who are about to re-enter society the skills they need to launch and run viable microenterprises. In this way, Venturing Out aims to reduce recidivism as men and women who able to provide for themselves and their families are less likely to re-offend, will pay taxes rather than burden taxpayers, and are positiverole models within their communities. In 2011, Venturing Out’s Entrepreneurship 101 course was taught at five Massachusetts locations, including four state and county correctional facilities and a community-based program for former offenders.
For more information contact Laura Winig, lwinig@venturingout.org or call 617-279-2421.
