Mission: Launch Co-founder and Open Society Soros Justice Fellow, Teresa Hodge, is named a 2017 Opportunity Agenda Communications Fellow! 

At The Opportunity Agenda's Communications Institutes, rising leaders working on issues critical to opportunity develop their communication skills, including framing and narrative development, utilizing public opinion and media research, understanding digital communications and social networking, persuasive writing, and on-camera broadcast presentation. Upon completion, they become Communication Fellows, and get to work shaping the public dialogue in their home communities.

Co-founder, Teresa Hodge, will convene a SXSW panel in partnership with Google, Live to Give Foundation and the ACLU's campaign for Smart Justice focused on amplifying the voices of formerly incarcerated women.

The United State of Incarcerated Women While Lock Up and Orange Is the New Black is provocative the realities of enduring prison are anything but entertaining. One+ million women are under criminal justice supervision. One-in-four women have a family member in prison. We must honestly discuss the state of incarcerated women and the impact on us all. Engaging first person accounts as well as relevant data will be shared by four women with nearly 200 months of prison time, combined. These formidable agents of change will inform and equip audience members to join the growing criminal justice reform movement and help to unlock opportunities for millions of people living with an arrest and/or conviction record in the United States.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

Mission: Launch to Partner with Google, D.C. for a Dialogue on Data, Justice, and Opportunity

WASHINGTON, DC February 2, 2017 – Mission: Launch is pleased to announce a partnership with Google, D.C. for a dialogue around the relationship between data, justice, and opportunities in the criminal justice sector. The event, which will take place on February , 2017 from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM at the Google, D.C. headquarters, will include expert panelists from a variety of sectors: government, private, education, and nonprofit. Topics for discussion include benefits and drawbacks of data in criminal justice decision making, connecting policy to the discussion of collateral consequences, and initiatives dedicated to expanding workforce opportunities for people living with an arrest/conviction record in the United States. This event stems from months of collaboration between veteran re-entry organization, Mission: Launch and Google, which signed the Fair Chance Business Pledge in 2016.

“Kicking off the year with this timely conversation about smart reentry and workforce opportunities with Google is exciting for organization and our network. For nearly 3 years we have convened stakeholders throughout the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD metropolitan regions to identify opportunities for enhancements in how area residents reintegrate post prison or jail. This event will allow local and national leaders to come and share model practices and industry leading knowledge.” Laurin Hodge, President and Executive Director of Mission: Launch, Inc. The lively panel discussion aims to fuel awareness, discourse, and future partnerships. Registered attendees include professionals for over 8 different industries, students as well as directly impacted individuals.

For more information, Contact LAURIN HODGE, 202-449-4677, [email protected]

Press is invited to attend and should contact Laurin directly as the event is currently on a waitlist and registration is closed. Data, Justice, & Opps Event Registration: www.datajusticeopps.eventbrite.com

About Mission: Launch, Inc.

Tagline: Technology for social good. Impact through coalition. Stories igniting empathy.

Vision: We envision an America that restores equity and creates sustainable opportunities for fresh starts so that citizens facing barriers due to an arrest and/or conviction record can live out their full potential by rejoining society and contributing in meaningful ways.  

Mission: Accelerate self-sufficiency for Americans facing discrimination due to criminal justice system connections.

Issue Focus: Poverty alleviation, workforce/economic development for disadvantaged individuals due to criminal justice system connections

Twitter:www.twitter.com/mission_launch

Facebook:www.facebook.com/missionlaunch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missionlaunch

The SXSW Community Service Awards reflect the heart and soul of the Interactive event. Like the co-founder of SXSW Interactive, Dewey Winburne, these ten honorees are doing work to make a positive difference in their communities through technology. This ceremony is truly one of the most touching and meaningful events that happens at SXSW.

We are very excited to announce the following 2017 SXSW Community Service Awards honorees. Each honoree receives a complimentary badge to SXSW, a $1,000 grant to their favorite 501(c)(3), and a chance to spread the word about their work to the SXSW community. The SXSW Community Service Awards will take place on the evening of Monday, March 13 during the 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals.

Teresa Y. Hodge (Baltimore, MD), is the Director of Strategy & Innovation for Mission: Launch, Inc., Hodge plays a critical role in building strategic partnerships and establishing social enterprise models for greater reach and sustainability. She was recently named a 2016 Open Society Soros Justice Fellow and is a passionate advocate committed to reducing the lasting harm caused by prison.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

Mission: Launch Co-Founder and Executive Vice President Named A 2016 Soros Justice Fellow

WASHINGTON, DC June 20, 2016 – While criminal justice reform continues to be a major topic of conversation and debate, from Capitol Hill to the talking points of Presidential presumptive nominees, Mission: Launch is pleased to announce that Executive Vice President and co-founder, Teresa Hodge, has been named a 2016 Soros Justice Fellow by the Open Society Foundations. The foundation is awarding $1.2 million to fund the criminal justice reform work of fifteen (15) announced recipients. Projects vary in focus, including: reentry advocacy, creating prison to school pipelines and developing humanizing media/digital storytelling campaigns.  As a member of the class of 2016, Hodge’s stipend will enable her to launch an eighteen (18) month, criminal justice reform, advocacy campaign focused on Incarceration and the Digital Divide; this campaign will promote tech education and create a pathway for tech opportunities with the goal of helping to shrink the digital divide experienced by formerly incarcerated persons, who are being navigated back to the core of society.

 “During the 5 years I was incarcerated, I realized technology was revolutionizing how people engaged in all aspects of life. I went from someone who was a tech early adopter to being on the other side of the digital divide,” says Hodge.  “Planning for my own reentry, I purposed to use technology to help me personally reintegrate into the workplace. I’m excited to spend the next 18-months advocating for technology inclusion for those of us with a prior arrest and/or conviction record. Being locked-up in prison should not keep one locked-out of opportunity for the rest their life”