Georgia releases thousands of people from prison each year—with no job skills, no network, and no path forward. The state spends $60,000 per inmate annually but almost nothing on preparing them for release. Mentorship programs that connect formerly incarcerated people with business professionals reduce recidivism dramatically—the Prison Entrepreneurship Program reports participants reoffend at far lower rates than the national average. Yet Georgia offers no statewide mentorship program for returning citizens. 1
Why Mentorship Works
Formerly incarcerated people face barriers most never experience:
- Criminal records block employment — most employers won’t hire
- No professional network — years of incarceration severed connections
- Limited business knowledge — no opportunity to learn while inside
- Social stigma — communities reject returning citizens
Mentorship programs address all four. Business professionals teach skills, provide connections, and help navigate the stigma of a criminal record.
Programs That Work
Successful models exist—outside Georgia:
- Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) — 100,000+ volunteer hours since 2007
- Defy Ventures — Transforms “criminal thinking” into entrepreneurial thinking
- PERC (Chicago) — Connects participants with nonprofits, funders, and alumni
- Wharton program — MBA students teach business concepts inside prisons
As PEP describes it: “Our work empowers men to reconstruct their identities from tax consumers to taxpayers, gang leaders to servant leaders, and felons to community role models.”
What Georgia Lacks
Georgia has no equivalent programs:
- No statewide mentorship initiative for returning citizens
- No entrepreneurship training in Georgia prisons
- No business professional volunteer network for inmates
- No post-release business support services
Georgia releases people unprepared, then punishes them for failing.
Take Action
Use Impact Justice AI to send advocacy emails demanding reentry programs in Georgia. The free tool crafts personalized messages to Georgia lawmakers—no experience required.
Demand:
- Mentorship programs connecting inmates with business professionals
- Entrepreneurship training in Georgia prisons
- Post-release business support services
- Investment in reentry over recidivism
Further Reading
- How Prison Education Lowers Recidivism Costs
- $700 Million More—And Nothing to Show for It
- GPS Informational Resources
- Pathways to Success
About Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS)
Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS) is a nonprofit investigative newsroom built in partnership with incarcerated reporters, families, advocates, and data analysts. Operating independently from the Georgia Department of Corrections, GPS documents the truth the state refuses to acknowledge: extreme violence, fatal medical neglect, gang-controlled dorms, collapsed staffing, fraudulent reporting practices, and unconstitutional conditions across Georgia’s prisons.
Through confidential reporting channels, secure communication, evidence verification, public-records requests, legislative research, and professional investigative standards, GPS provides the transparency the system lacks. Our mission is to expose abuses, protect incarcerated people, support families, and push Georgia toward meaningful reform based on human rights, evidence, and public accountability.
Every article is part of a larger fight — to end the silence, reveal the truth, and demand justice.
- GPS Statistics, https://gps.press/gdc-statistics/[↩]