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”