Stacy Burnett has a powerful idea to shake up the big-business of prison re-entry: hire formerly incarcerated people to mentor folks who are newly released. Stacy, a current Bard MBA student, and her business partner Charlene Reyes started college together at the Bard Prison Initiative. Together they presented their new approach to re-entry at the late March Mid-Hudson Valley Regional Business Plan Competition, winning in their category.
Abby Frazier and Clayton Webb, Photo-Nathan Cho
Stacy’s business is called Just2Disrupt. Her idea is to redirect the hundreds of millions of dollars that are now being used to pay case-workers to instead train and directly employ formerly incarcerated workers to act as mentors. Her program also saves on duplicative services, instead directing clients to already existing educational and support opportunities. Stacy has already piloted the program, and has received grant support to further expand it.
“The BardMBA unlocked my superpower. I can walk into a room fearless, and tenaciously make a business case,” said Stacy. “We did make some people uncomfortable about their beliefs about incarceration. There were legislators and business leaders in those rooms who heard us – and they listened. My ability to frame these issues as a business case – to speak their language – conveyed the problems of incarceration as something that they could tackle in their current capacity. Making it into that room was our first victory of the day. Changing hearts and minds was second, and winning was the third.”
All of the competing businesses were incubated in Bard classes. Stacy developed her idea in Professor Alejandro Crawford’s entrepreneurship class in the Bard MBA. And the undergraduate teams emerged from another social entrepreneurship class at Bard, led by Eliza Edge and Crawford, that is part of a newly minted undergraduate certificate in Social Enterprise and Leading Change.
Offered through the Open Society University Network, the Certificate is comprised of modified versions of three MBA classes, including social entrepreneurship, for undergraduates. The certificate is effectively a minor in sustainable business, and includes students and faculty from universities across the world. The courses all feature a global classroom, with students enrolled convening each week in a common zoom space to share ideas. Participating schools include BRAC University in Bangladesh, Al Quds University in Palestine, the American Universities of Central Asia (in Kyrgyzstan) and of Bulgaria, Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, and Bard. Past certificate courses have incubated powerful social business ideas in Bangladesh and Palestine.
Bard undergrad Nathan Cho said that the Mid-Hudson business competition "provided an excellent opportunity to apply the concepts I had learned in the Social Entrepreneurship course. Through the competition, I had the chance to practice public speaking and hone my ability to create a compelling business pitch." He added that "one of the most valuable aspects of the competition was the opportunity to network with mentors and judges."
Bard senior Abby Frazier also reflected on her experience: "Before starting this project, I never considered myself to be interested in entrepreneurship. However, participating in this competition provided me with an opportunity to delve into the business world, ultimately leading me to love it. I was able to merge my passion for sustainability with a tangible project that tackles real issues like climate change."
All of the Bard competitors had the opportunity to practice their pitches as part of the Bard MBA’s annual business competition held last December. At that event, the Bard/AUCA undergrad team Not a Shame won the award for the best business idea from the global classroom. The business model is to gamify sex education for teens in Central Asia, and provide access to education in regional languages. Not a Shame took home a $1500 prize to help them develop the business. Stacy’s Just2Disrupt business was an overall finalist among the MBA competitors in December.
Inspired by the power of the business ideas the teams developed, these Bardians all chose to take their ideas to the next level at the regional business competition. For Stacy, it’s now on to the New York State finals in late April.