Meet New Profit’s Fourth Unlocked Future Catalyze Cohort
New Profit is excited to welcome 11 new organizations to our Unlocked Futures 4 cohort. These organizations and their leaders are doing powerful work increasing visibility of, removing barriers to capital for, and collaborating with communities who have been impacted by the American legal system.
Unlocked Futures launched in 2017 as a partnership between New Profit and John Legend’s FREEAMERICA. All organizations in the fourth cohort are led by systems and justice-impacted social entrepreneurs and are working to increase visibility and remove barriers to capital for impacted individuals and communities. These leaders bring unmatched expertise and insight into reimagining and transforming the current United States legal system and, through their work, are providing economic pathways and other opportunities for impacted individuals and communities to disrupt the recidivism cycle, live with dignity, and create a world where our communities are cared for and whole.
New Profit will provide $100,000 of unrestricted funding and $10,000 for leadership development, as well as strategic advisory support to each organization. Over the next year, cohort members will engage in a peer learning community that connects through virtual sessions and multi-day in-person convenings focused on building relationships with one another and tackling key leadership and organizational challenges.
We invite you to learn more about these organizations and the impact they’re creating below:
- Building Freedom Ohio’s mission is to develop the leadership capacity of people with the wisdom of lived experiences in the criminal justice system; to build and wield power in grassroots-driven BFO chapters throughout.
- Freedom Community Center’s mission is to build a movement of survivors that will meaningfully address violence in St. Louis City and collectively design alternatives to state systems of punishment.
- Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN) is an international network of 1500 formerly incarcerated college graduates across 44 states and 10 countries.
- Home is Here NOLA cultivates community-based systems of support with newly arrived immigrants in the Gulf South.
- Legendary Legacies is a gang rehabilitation and re-entry program. They provide training and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated people, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of their community.
- Life After Release supports formerly incarcerated individuals by providing access to education, job training, housing assistance, and legal support. They also focus on advocacy efforts to reform policies and reduce barriers to reintegration.
- Nation Outside is a movement led by those directly impacted by the criminal legal system, advocating for systemic change through policy innovation, peer-led reentry support, and civic engagement to empower system-impacted individuals and communities.
- Next Chapter transforms the tech sector by creating employment pathways for people returning from incarceration. Through Next Chapter, the tech sector has the opportunity to offer career paths, build their talent pipelines, and reduce recidivism.
- Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services, Inc. (RREPS) provides high-level criminal justice policy reform and advocacy with an emphasis on the carceral state. While also providing educational resources to help end the recidivism cycle.
- Transformational Prison Project is a system-impacted led organization that addresses individual and systemic harms via Restorative Justice circle processes.
- We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project (WAB2G) connects and heals women and girls affected by homicide and incarceration to prevent the cycles of violence and victimization.
To date, Unlocked Futures has invested in 35 game-changing organizations. Past cohorts’ work has been highlighted in a roundtable conversation between John Legend and Unlocked Futures cohort members and a video campaign that garnered more than 1 million views for social entrepreneurs and their organizations.
Stay up to date on these organizations and our full portfolio by subscribing to New Profit’s newsletter. Entrepreneurs in this cohort will also have the opportunity to share more about their work through our ongoing Social Entrepreneur Spotlight series. Learn more about New Profit’s funding opportunities here.
New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that backs social entrepreneurs who are expanding access and opportunity in America. New Profit exists to build a bridge between these leaders and a community of philanthropists who are committed to catalyzing their impact. New Profit provides unrestricted grants and strategic support to a portfolio of organizations led by visionary social entrepreneurs to increase their impact, scale, and sustainability. It also partners with social entrepreneurs and other cross-sector leaders to shift how government and philanthropy pursue social change to ensure that all people can thrive. Since its founding in 1998, New Profit has invested over $350M in 250+ organizations and, through the America Forward Coalition’s collective advocacy efforts, has unlocked over $1.9B in government funding for social innovation.
