Hey, I'm Charles!
London England | Member since August 2016
About Charles Hoke
I currently head up growth and development for Defy Ventures, a nonprofit that provides entrepreneurship, employment, and character development training to currently and formerly incarcerated men and women. Leveraging a blended learning model, we combine the scalability, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of video-based training with life-transforming opportunities for growth through personal coaching and mentoring. We help Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) launch successful careers and businesses and break generational legacies of poverty and incarceration.
In a previous life, I worked in the High Yield Group for a financial services firm. My passion for problem solving, fighting injustice, and underdogs attracted me to Defy and the opportunity to help redeem one of America’s most costly social problems:
• 100 million Americans have a criminal history
• 75% of people released from prison are rearrested within 5 years
• 70% of children with an incarcerated parent will follow in their parents’ footsteps
• America has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners
• It costs NYC taxpayers $167,000 to incarcerate 1 person for 1 year
Defy is well on its way to achieving its vision of equipping people with criminal histories to defy the odds:
• 3% recidivism
• 95% employment rate
• 150 incubated/financed startups that created 350+ jobs
• 3,000+ executive volunteers who have donated 13,000+ hours to mentor/coach
• Over $9 million in private funding from individuals and foundations
Interested in connecting? Please reach out to me at charles@defyventures.org
Want to volunteer with Defy? volunteer.defyventures.org
SPECIALTIES: Business Development, Impact Investing, Social Entrepreneurship, Re-Entry Programs, NPO, Philanthropy, Fundraising, Nonprofit Organizations, Social Enterprises, Business Incubation
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