At Prison Professors, we believe that every person should become the professor of his own life.
That belief drives our work. We create free self-directed learning resources for people before, during, and after prison. We encourage people to define success, set clear goals, memorialize their progress, and build a record that shows the effort they are making to prepare for a better future.
Anyone can visit the financial transparency page of our website to see our current resources and how we think about stewardship:
As of today, Prison Professors has more than $1 million in liquid assets. We are using those resources to scale our program responsibly. We want donors, participants, families, prison leaders, and the broader public to understand how we think about money, mission, and measurable impact.
Our focus is not on raising money for its own sake. Our focus is on building pathways that help more people prepare for success upon release.
What It Took to Build This Community
As of today, more than 7,700 people participate in our program.
Some people may not fully appreciate how much effort and expense went into building that community. The people we serve do not have access to the internet. They live in prison, separated from their families and communities. They cannot simply visit our website, download materials, or participate in online learning the way people in the free world can.
Although Prison Professors does not charge anyone to participate in our program, the people who choose to participate still face costs.
They may have to pay prison-system fees to send emails.
They may have to pay postage.
They may have to wait for family members or volunteers to help them create profiles.
They must overcome delays, limited access, institutional restrictions, and the discouragement that comes from living inside a system that often does not reward long-term personal development.
They also must be self-directed.
Many of the people we serve did not grow up in environments that emphasized education, personal development, or strategic planning. Some have never been asked to define success. Some have never been encouraged to build a written record of their growth. Some have never seen how reading, writing, reflection, and accountability can become tools for building a better future.
To reach them, we have had to build trust one step at a time.
I have made presentations in 83 federal prisons so far. Through those visits, our team has connected with more than 80,000 people. We have sent more than 25,000 books into prisons. We have worked with wardens, staff members, reentry teams, families, volunteers, and justice-impacted people who want to build stronger lives.
That work requires time, travel, relationships, technology, books, staff support, and persistence.
Using Technology
While we continue serving people in prison, we are also building our technology stack.
In this era of artificial intelligence, we want to make sure that people can access the right information in the most cost-efficient way possible. We want to create systems that help people learn, write, reflect, build profiles, complete lessons, and document progress.
Within the next year, we anticipate that the Federal Bureau of Prisons will distribute tablets to every person in federal prison. We want to be ready. We invest to ensure that those tablets will include Prison Professors lessons. With that achievement, we’ll reach tens of thousands of people who otherwise might never access our resources.
That opportunity requires preparation today.
We must invest in curriculum development.
We must invest in technology.
We must invest in systems that can support growth.
We must prepare content in ways that work without internet access.
We must create resources that people can use independently, even if they have no teacher, no coach, and no family member guiding them each day.
Besides distributing lessons, we also must inspire people to act.
We believe every person should develop a curriculum for his own life. He should build a profile. He should document the books he reads, the lessons he completes, the goals he sets, the journals he writes, and the release plan he builds. That profile should become a record of preparation, a record that shows competence, discipline, accountability, and a commitment to contributing to society.
Scaling the Profile Program
We anticipate that 10,000 people will develop profiles on our platform by the end of summer, 2026.
By this time next year, assuming the federal government introduces tablets across the system, we anticipate enrollment in our profile program could surpass 50,000 people.
That growth would change the scale of our work.
When a person builds a profile, he creates a body of work. That body of work can help him communicate with family members, case managers, prison staff, probation officers, employers, mentors, and others who may influence his future. It can show that he is not waiting passively for time to pass. It can show that he is preparing.
We want to build systems that make that process easier, more consistent, and more meaningful.
But systems cost money. Technology costs money. Staff costs money. Travel costs money. Books cost money. Data collection costs money. Advocacy costs money.
That is why we must think carefully about how we use resources.
Setting a $6 Million Treasury Goal
With staff wages, technology development, curriculum production, prison outreach, books, and operational support, we anticipate needing an annual budget of approximately $3 million to serve 50,000 participants. Our projected cost would be approximately $60 per person per year, or about 17 cents per day.
That is a small amount compared with the cost of incarceration. It is also a small amount compared with the social cost of recidivism, unemployment, family instability, and intergenerational poverty. I am hopeful that we’ll build a supportive community that believes in the mission.
Since people in prison depend on us, we must be good stewards of capital. We cannot build programs that disappear because funding dries up. We cannot invite people to trust us unless we have the discipline to sustain the work.
A $6 million treasury would give us approximately two years of reserves at a $3 million annual budget. That kind of reserve would allow us to plan responsibly, hire carefully, build technology with discipline, continue outreach, and avoid making short-term decisions that weaken the mission.
We want to grow, but we want to grow with integrity.
How We Would Use a $3 Million Annual Budget
If Prison Professors had a $3 million annual operating budget, we would deploy those resources carefully. The exact allocation would depend on board approval, actual needs, and the timing of tablet deployment, but the priorities would be clear.
1. Technology and Platform Development
We would invest significantly in the technology stack that supports our profile platform, curriculum delivery, participant tracking, dashboards, data reporting, and artificial-intelligence tools.
Technology allows us to scale without losing the human purpose of our work. It helps us reach people who cannot access the internet. It helps us organize written submissions, track progress, translate content, create lessons, and show stakeholders evidence of preparation.
A stronger technology platform would allow participants to build profiles more easily. It would allow families and approved partners to help from outside. It would allow our team to identify active participants, recognize excellence, and show wardens and administrators how people in their facilities are engaging in self-directed preparation.
2. Curriculum Development
We would continue building lessons that help people prepare for success.
Our curriculum teaches people how to define values, set goals, build strong attitudes, develop accountability, strengthen communication, prepare for employment, and create release plans. We also build MasterClass lessons from people who have overcome adversity, built careers, led businesses, practiced law, invested in real estate, worked in technology, or found ways to contribute after prison.
We want every lesson to do more than inform. We want each lesson to lead participants into action.
That means reflection questions. Writing prompts. Profile-development exercises. Book reports. Release planning. Journaling. Practical steps that help people create a record of growth.
3. Books and Physical Distribution
Even as tablets become available, books will remain important.
Many people in prison still prefer physical books. Some facilities may delay tablet rollout. Some people may not have immediate access to digital lessons. Books create another pathway into the program.
We have already sent more than 25,000 books to people in prison. We want to continue rewarding people who document progress. When participants earn points by writing journals, book reports, biographies, and release plans, we want to send more resources that encourage continued growth.
Books are not just reading material. They are tools for building self-direction.
4. Prison Visits and Relationship Building
I have made presentations in 83 federal prisons so far, and those visits have been central to our growth.
When I visit a prison, I do more than give a speech. I meet staff. I thank wardens. I explain our program. I listen to questions. I encourage participants to memorialize their preparation. I show people how self-directed learning can influence their future.
Those visits build trust.
They also create momentum. After presentations, we often see more people creating profiles, writing journals, submitting book reports, and encouraging others to participate. Staff members also learn how Prison Professors can support institutional goals around reentry, accountability, and constructive behavior.
A $3 million budget would allow us to continue visiting facilities, strengthening relationships, and expanding awareness.
5. Staff and Participant Support
Scaling from 7,700 participants to 50,000 participants will require more support.
People in prison send emails, letters, journals, book reports, release plans, and questions. Family members ask how to help. Volunteers need guidance. Staff members need information. Technology needs maintenance. Content needs editing. Profiles need review.
We need people who can support that work with consistency and care.
Staffing does not mean bureaucracy. Staffing means capacity. It means having people who can respond, organize, publish, review, track, and help participants continue moving forward.
6. Data, Measurement, and Advocacy
We want to show measurable outcomes.
If people participate in Prison Professors programs, do they write more? Do they read more? Do they prepare stronger release plans? Do they build better communication skills? Do they earn higher wages after release? Do they return to prison at lower rates? Do they become mentors for others?
Those questions help us develop the next phase of our mission.
To answer them, we need better data systems. We need dashboards. We need reporting tools. We need longitudinal tracking. We need to show prison leaders, policymakers, employers, donors, and the public that self-directed preparation can produce measurable value.
Advocacy without data is limited. Data allows us to make a stronger case for change.
7. Administration, Compliance, and Transparency
Responsible growth also requires administration.
We must maintain compliance as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We must file reports, track donations, manage accounting, prepare board materials, document expenditures, and communicate clearly with donors.
Transparency is not optional. It is part of stewardship.
That is why we publish our financial transparency page. Donors should know where resources go. Participants should know that we are building for the long term. Families should know that we are serious about sustainability. The broader public should know that we are not asking for trust without accountability.
Gratitude for an Independent Web3 Community
Recently, a Web 3.0 community created an independent initiative to support Prison Professors.
They launched a section of their website called “The Story,” where they explain how the effort began and why they want to support education, accountability, and second chances. They also added a donation tracker to show progress toward their community goal.
Anyone can review those pages here:
The Story: https://www.prisonprofessorstoken.com/story
Community Website and Donation Tracker: https://www.prisonprofessorstoken.com/
I am grateful to the people participating in that community.
I do not have sufficient knowledge of Web 3.0 to understand fully how a digital community can generate so much support for our mission. I am learning. What I do understand is gratitude, responsibility, and stewardship.
I want everyone to know that I am mission-driven, not money-driven.
I do not draw wages from Prison Professors. The lessons I learned during 26 years in prison helped me build financial independence after release. Because of that, I do not want to take money from the nonprofit. I want to reserve those resources for the mission.
Our commitment is simple: we will use resources to expand access to free education, build better systems, support more people, and create measurable pathways that help people prepare for success.
Money Will Not Change the Mission
If we achieve a larger treasury, we can build more innovative programs.
For example, we can explore ways to sponsor people who build extraordinary records of preparation. We may be able to create scholarships, fellowships, apprenticeships, employment bridges, or even a venture-style fund that supports people who demonstrate sustained excellence over time.
But we will not offer participation trophies.
People who receive sponsorship or support should earn it through documented effort. They should compete by showing consistency, discipline, accountability, and a commitment to contribution. They should build profiles that show the books they read, the lessons they completed, the goals they pursued, the journals they wrote, and the steps they took to prepare for success.
Resources should reward preparation. Resources should encourage excellence. Resources should help people build records that open opportunities.
That approach aligns with our larger message: people can earn freedom through merit.
Building for the Long Term
We are enthusiastic about building this community.
We want people from around the world to learn more about the steps we are taking to improve outcomes in America’s prison system. We want more people to understand the barriers people face inside. We want more people to see why self-directed learning matters. We want more people to recognize that preparation can begin long before release.
The work ahead will not be easy.
We are trying to bring change inside an entrenched system. Many incentives favor the status quo. Many people have grown accustomed to cycles of incarceration, poverty, and failure. We are working to disrupt those cycles by showing people how to build records of preparation, personal responsibility, and contribution.
That mission is worth working toward.
We are grateful for every person who helps us build. We are grateful for people in prison who choose to participate despite the obstacles. We are grateful for families who support them. We are grateful for staff members who open doors. We are grateful for donors who trust us. We are grateful for volunteers, developers, writers, technologists, and community members who want to help.
We will continue working to prove worthy of that trust.
Our focus will remain clear: build resources, expand access, document outcomes, and help more people prepare for success upon release.