Civic Technology at Mission: Launch, Inc.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Advancing Criminal Justice Reform in Baltimore, Local Civic Innovators Reconvene to Build Prototypes for Post Incarceration Reentry Solutions

Posted on Blog by · June 16, 2016 9:58 AM · 5 reactions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

Advancing Criminal Justice Reform in Baltimore, Local Civic Innovators Reconvene to

Build Prototypes for Post Incarceration Reentry Solutions

BALTIMORE, MD, June 16, 2016 – Just four months after hosting the Rebuilding Reentry

Design and Data Day, its inaugural Baltimore social justice event focused specifically on post

incarceration reentry, Mission: Launch, Inc. is reconvening city stakeholders (including more

than 20 recently released residents) committed to building viable prototypes for future

implementation.

The Rebuilding Reentry Baltimore Build Day is a one-day event assembling engaged

citizens, from Baltimore and Washington, DC.; attendees have the collective focus of improving

service delivery outcomes for the formerly incarcerated and successfully navigating Baltimore

residents with arrest and conviction records back to the core of society. Based upon systems

gaps identified during the human centered design process of the February event, these reentry

prototypes will advance community sourced ideas, inclusive of the following areas: family

reunification services, probation/parole guidance, vital records/state ID provision, peer

mentorship and anti-stigma efforts.

PRESS RELEASE: MISSION: LAUNCH PARTICIPATES IN TWO INTERACTIVE PANELS AT THE HISTORIC SXSW 2016

Posted on Blog by · March 08, 2016 6:00 AM · 2 reactions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

MISSION: LAUNCH PARTICIPATES IN TWO INTERACTIVE PANELS AT THE HISTORIC SXSW 2016

WASHINGTON, DC., March 8, 2016 - Mission: Launch, Inc. is honored to announce the organization’s participation in two panels at this year’s showcase of tech, talent and innovation, South by Southwest (SXSW). Executive Director/Co-founder, Laurin Hodge, Executive Vice President (EVP)/Co-founder, Teresa Hodge and Director of Communications/Special Projects, Bryn Phillips will all make their first SXSW panelist presentations during the five (5) day SXSW Interactive. A Keynote Conversation featuring President Barack Obama on Friday, March 11th was recently announced as the highlight of this 30th anniversary event; First Lady Michelle Obama will be the opening Keynote at SXSW Music on Wednesday, March 16, marking the first time that a sitting President and First Lady have ever participated.

Friday, March 11th, the Mission: Launch Co-founders, Laurin and Teresa Hodge, will be hosting a panel inclusive of Flikshop, Founder/CEO, Marcus Bullock. “Prison Tech Boom: Social Outcomes & Entrepreneurs” will address the market and industry demands for prison/jail technology, ways tech improves social outcomes and self-sufficiency for the formerly incarcerated and the growing interest & need for diversity in tech - inclusive of the 1-in-4 Americans with arrest and conviction histories. This panel convenes at 3:30pm CST at the Hilton Austin Downtown, 500 E. 4th St., Salon E.

“I am excited to host this panel. I look forward to interjecting conversations into SXSW that speak to (1) expanding the definition of diversity to include those locked out of more traditional work paths, (2) a growing demand for tech solutions that can adapt to prisons/jails, as well as (3) civic tech and the entrepreneurs who use their lived experiences to build the solutions they wish to see,” says Executive Director, Laurin Hodge. “Leading a panel with my mother and business partner, alongside our professional colleague, Marcus, is going to make for a friendly and fun conversation about the future of civic tech.”