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.”