(25 Nov 2013)
KENYATTA LEAL IS LIKE ANY OTHER TECH ENTREPRENEUR TRYING TO LAUNCH THE NEXT BIG APP.
BUT INSTEAD OF LEARNING COMPUTER SKILLS AT A UNIVERSITY, HE GOT HIS EDUCATION HERE...
LEAL SERVED MORE THAN 20 YEARS...HALF HIS LIFE...IN PRISON FOR MULTIPLE ARMED ROBBERIES. WHILE AT SAN QUENTIN, HE JOINED A TECH TRAINING CLASS CALLED "THE LAST MILE." HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON EARLIER THIS YEAR.
SOUNDBITE: Kenyatta Leal, ex-con and tech entrepreneur
"I think I've always had this entrepreneurial spirit, I just used it in the wrong way."
"THE LAST MILE" BRINGS VOLUNTEERS FROM SILICON VALLEY TO THE PRISONS TO TEACH TECHNOLOGY TO THE INMATES, MANY OF WHOM HAVE NEVER USED A COMPUTER.
SOUNDBITE: Tommy Winfrey, student, The Last Mile
"I came in at a time when the internet was just starting to become popular and I've only seen the internet once before coming to prison so the world's really passed me by."
THE PRISONERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO ONLINE SO COMPUTER SKILLS ARE TAUGHT THROUGH LECTURES AND NOTE TAKING.
ON THIS DAY, AN EMPLOYEE FROM LINKEDIN EXPLAINED THE BUSINESS BASICS OF CREATING A START-UP.
(teaching nats)
THE PROGRAM'S CREATORS SAY PRISONERS NEED TO LEARN MODERN SKILLS INSTEAD OF JUST THE BLUE-COLLAR TRAINING THAT TRADITIONALLY GOES ON BEHIND BARS.
SOUNDBITE: Beverly Parenti, Co-founder, The Last Mile
"Do the math and as a taxpayer you've already spent a million dollars on their incarceration. If you don't give them the tools to be successful in society upon release, the chances of them coming back is quite high."
MOST STARTUPS FAIL...BUT LEAL SAYS HE'S NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT.
SOUNDBITE: Kenyatta Leal, ex-con and tech entrepreneur
"After living in prisons like Pelican Bay & San Quentin, there's not very much out here in the free world that scares me."
AS MORE PROGRAMMING JOBS ARE OUTSOURCED OVERSEAS, THE LAST MILE SAYS PRISONS COULD PROVIDE A NEW POOL FOR HOME-GROWN TECH WORKERS.
HAVEN DALEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, SAN QUENTIN, CALIFORNIA.
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