Turn 2 U Inc. dba The Last Mile (TLM) is an Oakland, CA based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth for justice-impacted individuals through education and technology training.
The Last Mile originated with its first program in San Quentin State Prison with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. TLM has leveraged the power of public-private partnerships with Department of corrections and industry-leading companies to build and expand its programs.
Programs are currently operating in 16 facilities across 7 states in the United States, including California, Indiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, North Dakota, Montana and Massachusetts. TLM has been able to expand its purpose, "To Imagine, Build, and Open Doors," into other facilities through these partnerships as well as funding and employment opportunities from the technology sector.
History
After visiting a business class at San Quentin State Prison, Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti created The Last Mile. The program was founded to address the high rates of unemployment amongst the formerly incarcerated population after they are released, by empowering justice-impacted people with the skills needed to succeed in today's job market.Students cultivate personal and professional development in alignment with the technical education and with the support of TLM reentry staff, volunteers, and a community founded on shared lived experience.In-classroom curricula and course material prepare students for meaningful employment in modern job roles including web development, software engineering, and audio and video production.
Entrepreneurship
The Last Mile was initially modeled as a pro bono startup accelerator inside San Quentin, designed with prison security protocols and restrictions in mind. With mentorship from Redlitz and Parenti, each participant conceptualized a business, developed a business plan, and prepared a business pitch. In May 2012, the inaugural TLM Demo Day was held at San Quentin State Prison with six graduates pitching their startup ideas in front of 350+ business and tech C-suite executives, entrepreneurs, government officials, and new organization.
Web Development
In 2014, The Last Mile launched its coding program, the first fully inclusive computer programming curriculum available in a US prison, in partnership with the California Prison Industry Authority. TLM’s Web Development Program (also known in California as the Code.7370 Coding Program) was implemented at San Quentin State Prison as a career training program with the goal of teaching students to become software engineers, improving their opportunities for gainful employment when they returned home. The program has since expanded to 7 states and 16 facilities, serving justice-impacted populations in men's, women's and youth facilities.
AVP
The Last Mile launched its first classroom of the Audio and Video Production Program (AVP) in Indiana at Putnamville Correctional Facility September 13, 2021.
The AVP Program was designed in-house by audio program specialists, who used video content and practice files donated by LinkedIn Learning as a basis for instruction. The program's coursework from LinkedIn Learning focuses on the fundamentals of sound and audio engineering, with the intention that students gain software proficiency to become audio engineers or producers. SiriusXM partnered with TLM to help develop the curriculum and provide sound engineering content. Avid Technology also sponsored TLM to participate in the Avid Learning Collective, which provides the program with curricular content, audio and video creation software and certifications. This formative collaboration works in service of students to build the necessary skills to enter the field of audio engineering as apprentices or interns post-release. The AVP program expanded to San Quentin State Prison on April 18, 2022, making it the second classroom at TLM to teach Audio and Video Production.
Expansion After launching at San Quentin State Prison, The Last Mile continued expanding among California’s correctional facilities for men, women, and youth throughout California. In 2018, The Last Mile launched its Web Development Program in Indiana facilities and has since continued to expand to other states, as outlined in the table below. The Last Mile focuses on implementing its programs at the state level with a combination of public and private funding.
Locations Current Facilities State Year Launched Year Closes Serving San Quentin State Prison CA 2010 - Men Ironwood State Prison CA 2015 - Men Folsom Women's Facility CA 2017 2023 Women Pelican Bay State Prison CA 2018 - Men Ventura Youth Correctional Facility CA 2018 2023 Young Adult California Institute For Women CA 2018 - Women Indiana Women’s Prison IN 2018 - Women Pendleton Correctional Facility IN 2018 2021 Young Adult O.H. Close Youth Correctional Facility CA 2019 2022 Young Adult Topeka Correctional Facility KS 2019 2021 Women Mabel Bassett Correctional Center OK 2019 - Women Putnamville Correctional Facility IN 2019 - MenRockville Correctional FacilityIN2019 -WomenPlainfield Correctional FacilityIN2019 -MenParnall Correctional FacilityMI2019 -MenNorth Dakota State PenitenentiaryND2020 -MenMontana State PrisonMT2022 -MenMassachusetts Correction Facility- ShirleyMA2022 -Men
Programs
TLM utilizes a custom-built remote instruction software and Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver educational programming into correctional facilities across the country. The organization’s staff creates and delivers course content with coordination support from classroom facilitators, who oversee students’ daily activity in person.
Structure
Platform as a service TLM's Engineering Department has developed an entire platform as a service (PaaS), including machine/user management, a secure network stack, and home-grown applications and curricular tooling, which are all designed to deliver a consistent and state-of-the-art student experience at scale. Our cloud-based infrastructure supports a robust and ever-growing software suite, which provides students with industry-best-in-class tools such as VS Code, GitLab, MongoDB, DevDocs, and more. All stack deployments and identity management are centrally controlled, giving TLM the flexibility to custom-build and deploy new tools and software all within the same secure environment. Our curriculum is developed in-house and released biannually.
List of platforms available to PPs
Canvas LMS: Learning management system. CND Service: Simulated Content Delivery Network (CDN), providing content for various frontend libraries and resources. DevDocs (Mirror): Offline documentation browser. GitLab: Open source code repository platform. Lightbox: Image repository for student projects. Messaging: Classroom-Chat platform. Palette Color Picker: Color scheme generator. Regex Test Tool: A tool to learn, build, and test Regular Expression Rest Endpoint: Simulated REST API endpoint. Stack Overflow (Mirror): Offline browser of Stack Overflow SQRank: JavaScript challenges of varying difficulty. Storage: Cloud-based secured storage for students. Support: Centralized remote support platform for students. Surveys: Centralized survey platform used to measure student feedback. Typing Trainer: Offline Touch Typing Trainer Wikipedia (Mirror): Encyclopedia platform.
Curriculum
In-Prison Education Web Development Program: a 12 month coding program in which students learn full stack software engineering using a platform that simulates the internet. The course curriculum includes web development fundamentals such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and Bootstrap as well as MERN, a software stack that four open-source technologies: MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. AVP: TLM’s Audio and Video Production (AVP) Program currently consists of one 6 month course that provides an overview of several audio production careers and covers the fundamentals of sound and hearing, recording equipment, and signal flow. After several weeks of training on the use of the three main types of signal processors, students put their skills and knowledge to the test in the creation of six full-scale music mixing and spoken word production. Students use Avid Pro Tools, the industry-standard software for editing and mixing digital audio. Remote Instruction: The goal of Remote Instruction (RI) is to provide an interpersonal connection between students and TLM, and to apply real-world examples to what students are learning. Remote Instructors host weekly live sessions on technical concepts that are introduced through the learning management system, supplementing the curriculum by providing tangible applications for abstract concepts and with in-the-moment examples and exercises. Self-directed learning: Students engage with required readings, video tutorials, activities, and project-based assignments via TLM's learning management system. Course content is grouped into weekly modules and thematic units, and is updated on a biannual bases to ensure alignment with recent trends in relevant professional sectors. Academic Support: The goal of Academic Support (AS) is to strengthen the students' understanding of the content in each course by connecting what they are learning to real-world examples and resources. The Academic Support team supports students' learning by providing them with reliable and consistent point of contact for technical requests, providing additional resources, answering any questions they may have regarding the curriculum, giving them individualized feedback, and grading all major projects for students across all the classroom.
Reentry The Reentry Department offers a full LMS course, Reentry and Professional Development (RPD), that equips students with the tools they need to apply their education in the workforce. In this course students submit transition plans and communicate with the Reentry Department about their plans and priorities for reentry. Returned Citizen Advocates support individuals based on personalized plans to prepare them for a successful transition leading up to the release date. To encourage reentry planning and increase student engagement, the Reentry Department launched a course for current students, Reentry & Professional Development, which is delivered in our LMS. This comprehensive course is composed of a series of modules designed to equip returned citizens with the skills necessary to secure employment upon release, whether it be an internship, an apprenticeship, or freelance. RPD includes the following professional development categories:
Grow With Google Digital Literacy Skills Electronic Correspondence Etiquette Online Hygiene Navigating a Professional Workspace Finding a Job and Networking Writing a Resume and Cover Letter Project Management Interview Preparation Building a Personal Brand Freelance Best Practices Preparing for Reentry (building credit, IRS, free books, transitional housing, government resources, transitional planning, and goal setting)
In addition to the static resources included in RPD, students are able to interact with the Reentry Department while still enrolled in the program. Through our Help Desk platform, students are able to submit transition plans to the Reentry team prior to their release and receive feedback, as well as suggestions for resources that may help address some of the challenges that they anticipate may arise when coming home. TLM’s Reentry Department has continued their work towards securing more partnerships with community-based organizations, including those that provide housing, healthcare, and continuing education services.