Venturing Out, Inc. Information

Venturing Out, Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit corporation, teaches entrepreneurship to incarcerated and court-involved adults. Venturing Out's core offering is Entrepreneurship 101 (E101), a three-month, comprehensive course on entrepreneurship and self-employment, taught to adults just before their release from prison. Venturing Out’s goal is to teach men and women who are re-entering society the skills they need to launch and run viable microenterprises or become self-sufficient through self-employment. In this way, Venturing Out aims to reduce recidivism as men and women who able to provide for themselves and their families are less likely to re-offend, will pay taxes rather than burden taxpayers, and are positive role models within their communities. Would-be entrepreneurs learn best from successful, practicing entrepreneurs. Our volunteer instructors are entrepreneurs who bring their wealth of experience in traditional small businesses into prison and community classrooms. These volunteer instructors serve as credible role models, business mentors and classroom facilitators, leading students through self-employment topics ranging from business plan development, bookkeeping, and marketing, to bootstrapping, customer and supplier financing and taxation. Venturing Out’s entrepreneurship course allows students to develop a clear vision and path of their entrepreneurial future while providing pro-social role modeling and positive peer-to-peer support.