Brave Behind Bars is a college-accredited introductory computer science and career-readiness program for incarcerated people. Our Summer '21 pilot cohort brought together 25 women from four correctional facilities across New England. We have since dramatically expanded our program and have introduced versions of our classes taught fully in Spanish. Within the past year, we have reached nearly 100 (formerly) incarcerated men and women from ten correctional facilites across the eastern United States, Arizona, Mexico, and Colombia. Together, our students develop skills in digital literacy, computer programming, web design, and career-readiness, and are empowered to tackle issues important to themselves and their communities.
The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and the incarceration rate in the United States has more than quadrupled in the last four decades. These high rates are partly caused by recidivism: those who are released from prison almost always return. Educational programs have been shown to drastically reduce recidivism, but educational opportunities fall below demand and often don't equip students with marketable skills. At Brave Behind Bars, we address this challenge by helping incarcerated people develop the technical skills and self-efficacy needed to thrive post-release.
Dr. Emily Harburg is the CEO and Founder of PairUp, an organization that boosts workplace knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and efficiency.
Our Massachusetts-based students are awarded college credit for BFCIT's Information Technology program.
Our DC-based students are awarded college credit for Georgetown's Computer Science program.
Our Maine-based students are awarded college elective credit for WCCC's Computer Technology program.
Our Mexico-based students are awarded college credit from Technológico de Monterrey.
Our Colombia-based students are awarded college credit from Universidad de los Andes.
