When members of our community learn that Prison Professors received support from Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance and one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the world, they may think the story began with a conversation.
It didn't.
The story began decades earlier.
The support we received from CZ is not simply a story about philanthropy. It is a story about preparation, persistence, and the power of living in accordance with a mission over a long period of time.
In our lessons, I often quote the legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight, who is known for saying:
"Everyone has the will to win, but not everyone has the will to prepare to win."
Many people see the result. Few people see the thousands of steps that made the result possible.
A Different Way of Thinking
When I entered federal prison in 1987, I knew I had made bad decisions. I also knew I had to begin making better decisions if I wanted to build a different future.
While in solitary confinement, I found inspiration in the Bible. Although I have never considered myself a religious person, those teachings changed the way I thought about responsibility, perseverance, and hope.
I began reading widely. The biography of Frederick Douglass inspired me. Plato's Republic introduced me to the teachings of Socrates. I read books that taught me the importance of critical thinking, personal responsibility, and deliberate action.
Those books taught me an important lesson:
Although I could not change the past, I could influence the future.
The question became simple:
How could I emerge from prison stronger than I entered?
Creating a Three-Part Plan
The answer led me to create a framework that guided every decision I made throughout the next 26 years.
I would:
Educate myself.
Contribute to society.
Build a support network.
Those three goals became the foundation of everything that followed.
Every day, I tried to take action that aligned with one of those objectives.
I earned academic credentials.
I wrote books and articles.
I developed educational programs.
I communicated with people who could help me learn and grow.
I documented the journey.
I did not pursue those efforts with expectations of immediate rewards. Instead, I was planting seeds with hopes of building a better future. At the time, I had no idea what opportunities those efforts might create. I simply believed that preparation would open doors, and that I had a responsibility to architect a plan, or write the next chapter of my life.
Building Credibility One Day at a Time
The most important lesson I learned is that credibility builds over time.
People watch what we do. They notice whether our actions match our words, and assess whether we remain committed during difficult times.
Over the years, I built relationships with educators, business leaders, policymakers, correctional administrators, and community members.
Those relationships became possible because people saw consistency. Years of documented efforts became self-evident, with a commitment to the mission. Most importantly, they saw that the work was about creating opportunities for others. I am a steward of a mission that is larger than any one person. That perspective helped me build trust.
And trust creates opportunities.
The Long Path to Prison Professors
After concluding my sentence, I used my personal resources to fund the development of this plan:
I traveled throughout the country.
I visited prisons.
I created books, courses, videos, and self-directed lessons.
I worked to persuade stakeholders that people in prison should have access to educational resources that could help them prepare for success.
Many people were skeptical and opposed the mission entirely. Others questioned whether people in prison deserved opportunities, or whether a person with my background could offer anything of value. As time passed, I remained committed to the mission.
I could demonstrate that the lessons I learned while serving my sentence helped me build a meaningful life after prison. They helped me become financially independent so that I could work without a salary or wage. They helped me build relationships with people who shared a belief in preparation, accountability, and personal growth.
After a decade of continuing this work, I transformed the mission into a nonprofit organization.
I committed to using my personal resources, and working without a salary or compensation, dedicating my efforts to advancing the mission. As a result of the seeds planted over many years, others began aligning with our vision of helping people break intergenerational cycles of poverty and recidivism. Together, we began building momentum.
How the Relationship with CZ Developed
Many people see the result: Prison Professors received support from CZ.
They do not see the preparation that made the relationship possible.
When CZ and I first connected, he was going through a difficult chapter in his life. A federal judge had sentenced him to serve four months in prison. Mutual acquaintances introduced us. By that time, I was already familiar with CZ's story. As a Bitcoin investor, I had followed his contributions to the digital asset ecosystem.
From that point forward, we connected every day. While CZ served his sentence, I answered questions, shared lessons from my own journey through prison, and worked alongside him on projects that would eventually become part of his book, Freedom of Money. Through those daily conversations, he gained a firsthand understanding of the self-directed discipline that Prison Professors encourages people to develop. More importantly, he could see that the mission I described was the same mission I had been pursuing for decades.
When we first spoke, I was not thinking about donations or financial support. He had questions about the system, and I responded honestly, never asking for compensation.
That decision aligned with the same philosophy that had guided me for decades: contribute first.
From that point forward, we connected daily. While he served his sentence, we worked together on the first draft of Freedom of Money. Through that process, he saw firsthand the self-directed work ethic that I encourage people in prison to develop.
He also experienced aspects of confinement that highlighted some of the inequities within the system. Since he was not an American citizen, the system placed harsher restrictions on him than others would experience. Those experiences led to many conversations about justice, opportunity, personal growth, and reform.
As our conversations continued, he asked about my vision.
I explained that my goals extended beyond helping individual people navigate prison. I wanted to build systems that could help change outcomes on a larger scale. To succeed, I would have to work over many years, building support from people in prison. Data we collected would help change the culture of confinement. With that data, we could influence administrators and policy makers. With those changes, we could advocate for reforms that would allow more people to work toward earning freedom through merit.
The ambitious visions would take many years of work, and we would have to work without revenues. I had been working toward those goals for decades.
When CZ asked what it would take to begin building the infrastructure necessary to advance the mission, I explained why we’d need to build a multiyear budget of approximately $2 million to $3 million per year. Such resources would allow us to create meaningful momentum.
He told me that he did not want to be the sole source of support.
A sustainable mission, he believed, should attract support from many stakeholders. At the same time, he told me that he believed in me. Even though he was not a US citizen, and our system of justice had treated him harshly, he believed in the mission.
To help us get started, CZ committed an initial contribution of $500,000.
I viewed that support as a responsibility rather than a reward. Every six months, I sent updates describing our progress, our challenges, and the ways we were deploying resources to advance the mission.
Yesterday, on June 16, 2026, we received the fourth installment of support. With that contribution, CZ's cumulative support reached $2 million.
The first contribution did not create trust. Trust made the first contribution possible. The updates we provided over the next two years strengthened that trust. Each installment reflected an ongoing belief that we were deploying resources responsibly and remaining faithful to the mission.
This lesson is not about the amount we received, but about the importance of being a good steward of resources. Trust grows when people see preparation and consistency, and transparency. Trust grows when actions align with words.
Because of that trust, many others have chosen to support the mission as well.
Members of the Web3 community who follow CZ's work have aligned with our efforts. For more insight on that independent community, visit the website they created at PrisonProfessorsToken.com. Through their collective contributions, they have helped generate approximately $500,000 in additional support. I have pledged to leave those resources in our nonprofit’s treasury, untouched until at least the summer of 2027.
Together, we are building resources, expanding access to education, creating technology, and opening opportunities for people to earn freedom through preparation and merit.
Those relationships did not emerge overnight.
They emerged from decades of preparation, thousands of days of effort, and a commitment to serving a mission larger than myself.
The Pathway That Led Here
Looking back, I can identify many of the steps that eventually created opportunities to build support:
Accepted responsibility for my decisions.
Began reading books that challenged my thinking.
Studied the lives of people who overcame adversity.
Developed a clear vision for the future.
Created a three-part plan.
Committed to daily self-improvement.
Pursued higher education.
Documented progress through writing.
Shared lessons with others.
Built relationships based on contribution rather than self-interest.
Created educational content.
Published books and articles.
Continued serving despite setbacks.
Built credibility through consistency.
Formed partnerships with correctional leaders.
Demonstrated measurable outcomes.
Built a nonprofit organization dedicated to service.
Expanded access to educational resources.
Maintained transparency regarding goals and finances.
Continued showing up every day.
Built relationships with people who shared the mission.
Earned trust through stewardship and accountability.
Received opportunities that would have been impossible to imagine decades earlier.
No single step created the outcome. The accumulation of many small steps created the outcome. That is why support follows preparation.
Questions for Reflection
If you are striving to build support for your own goals, consider the following questions:
What books, mentors, or experiences have influenced the way you think?
What is your long-term vision for the person you want to become?
What daily actions align with that vision?
How are you documenting your progress?
What evidence can you provide that demonstrates growth?
How are you contributing value to others?
Who are the people you hope will one day support your goals?
What can you do today to become worthy of their trust?
If someone reviewed your actions over the past year, what would they learn about your priorities?
What small step can you take today that will move you closer to the future you want to create?
The support we receive today is often the result of decisions we made years earlier. Every person has the power to begin creating that future now. The pathway begins with a single decision to prepare.
I encourage all justice impacted people to use our platform and build a profile. By documenting the incremental steps, people can empower themselves. As CZ wrote in Freedom of Money, there are always more opportunities in the future than in the past.
More to come on these developments. Remember:
Support follows preparation, and trust sustains support.