June 17, 2026: Pathways to Opportunity Through Education

Today, I am reflecting on the importance of persistence, accountability, and the power of a clear mission.

When I began building Prison Professors after completing my sentence, I understood that meaningful change would require more than good intentions. If we wanted to improve outcomes for people in prison, we would need to create scalable systems, build credibility with stakeholders, develop educational resources, collect data, and demonstrate measurable results.

For years, our team worked methodically toward those objectives.

We created books, courses, and self-directed lessons. We built relationships with correctional administrators. We traveled to prisons throughout the United States. We encouraged participants to document their progress through profiles, journals, book reports, release plans, and goal-setting exercises. Most importantly, we focused on producing measurable outcomes rather than simply talking about reform.

That work attracted support from people who believe in education and personal responsibility.

Today, I am grateful to share that Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, has made a fourth donation of $500,000. He has now contributed a total of $2 million to support the Prison Professors mission.

Those resources have allowed us to build infrastructure that can scale far beyond our current reach. What began as a program without any participants. Over time, we’ve grown to serve thousands of people. It is evolving into a platform capable of serving tens of thousands.

By next year, we expect every person in federal prison to have access to our free lessons through institutional technology platforms. As participation grows, our operating costs will continue to decline, allowing us to serve more people while maintaining our commitment to providing all educational resources at no cost to participants.

The support we have received is helping us advance several long-term initiatives:

• Expanding access to free educational content in prisons nationwide.

• Integrating lessons from multiple educational partners, including Binance Academy.

• Scaling our profile and accountability system so participants can document personal growth and preparation.

• Building technology that allows us to collect data on participation and outcomes.

• Providing administrators with tools that encourage positive behavior, education, and preparation for success.

• Strengthening evidence-based arguments for policies that expand opportunities through merit, including furloughs, family engagement programs, home confinement, work-release opportunities, and other incentive-based pathways.

Our mission remains unchanged.

We strive to help people in prison become the CEOs of their own lives. We encourage participants to invest in education, build support networks, contribute to society, and prepare for success long before release.

Every lesson completed, every book report submitted, every journal entry written, and every profile updated contributes to a growing body of evidence. That evidence helps us show policymakers, prison administrators, and community leaders that people respond positively when given opportunities to learn, grow, and prepare for productive lives.

I am grateful to everyone who has supported this mission—from participants and family members to volunteers, educators, correctional professionals, donors, and advocates.

Together, we are building a system that expands access to education and creates more opportunities for people to earn higher levels of liberty through merit, preparation, and documented progress.

The work continues.