Pivot Purposefully

Pivot Purposefully is our arm of Monica Motivates Enterprise focused on providing holistic, engaging and high-impact entrepreneurship education for formerly incarcerated women. Our goal is to help them become business owners. With almost eight years of entrepreneurship under our own belts, we see the women who face some of the toughest odds in re-building their dreams and are too often overlooked in other job training programs. All women face greater barriers to advancement in the workplace than their male counterparts, including lower starting salaries, fewer first promotions and significantly lower representation in senior leadership roles, according to research from McKinsey & Company and many others. Those hurdles are even higher for women of color. And, for formerly incarcerated women, the barriers can feel nearly insurmountable. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, 1.9 million women are released from prisons and jails each year with few resources focused on their unique needs and little attention to how the obstacles they face differ from those of justice-involved men. In a study conducted by the University of California at Berkley School of Law, researchers found that formerly incarcerated women faced numerous mental, financial and physical barriers to seeking and retaining employment. They conducted 1,200 resume tests where one version of a resume included a subtle reference to a period of incarceration and one did not. In A Higher Hurdle: Barriers to Employment for Formerly Incarcerated Women, they reported that a criminal record made it significantly less likely for a woman to receive a positive response from potential employers. African American women received the lowest response rate. In focus groups, formerly incarcerated women also reported that having a criminal record made them particularly less able to pursue many careers that might typically be open to them, such as with day care providers and in nursing. We have observed how our unique program can help formerly incarcerated women create, grow and scale new businesses by experiencing the entire entrepreneurial cycle from ideation through to the art of the pitch. With subject matter experts, mentoring and connection to funding opportunities, our goal is to help these women gain financial independence, improve the lives of their families and become valued contributors in their communities. Applications are now open for our Spring 2025 Cohort by following the link in comments. We are determined to reduce the recidivism rate for these dynamic leaders. #pivotpurposefully #formerlyincarcerated #reducerecidivism #secondchance #hopeforAmericans

Our team at Pivot Purposefully congratulates President Biden on this historic move.

Pivot Purposefully is our non-profit arm of Monica Motivates Enterprise focused on providing holistic, engaging and high-impact entrepreneurship education for formerly incarcerated women. Our goal is to help them become business owners. With almost eight years of entrepreneurship under our own belts, we are honored to serve women who face some of the toughest odds in re-building their dreams and are too often overlooked in other job training programs. All women face greater barriers to advancement in the workplace than their male counterparts, including lower starting salaries, fewer first promotions and significantly lower representation in senior leadership roles, according to research from McKinsey & Company and many others. Those hurdles are even higher for women of color. And, for formerly incarcerated women, the barriers can feel nearly insurmountable. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, 1.9 million women are released from prisons and jails each year with few resources focused on their unique needs and little attention to how the obstacles they face differ from those of justice-involved men. In a study conducted by the University of California at Berkley School of Law, researchers found that formerly incarcerated women faced numerous mental, financial and physical barriers to seeking and retaining employment. They conducted 1,200 resume tests where one version of a resume included a subtle reference to a period of incarceration and one did not. In ‘A Higher Hurdle: Barriers to Employment for Formerly Incarcerated Women’, they reported that a criminal record made it significantly less likely for a woman to receive a positive response from potential employers. African American women received the lowest response rate. In focus groups, formerly incarcerated women also reported that having a criminal record made them particularly less able to pursue many careers that might typically be open to them, such as with day care providers and in nursing. We are excited that our unique program has helped formerly incarcerated women create, grow and scale new businesses by experiencing the entire entrepreneurial cycle from ideation through to the art of the pitch. With bootcamp-style retreats, subject matter experts, mentoring and connection to funding opportunities, our goal is to help these women gain financial independence, improve the lives of their families and become valued contributors in their communities. As a business leader or entrepreneur yourself, you may be as energized by this important mission to help women get back on their feet as we are. After graduating over 60 women from our cohorts since 2018, we are excited to kickoff our next Pivot Purposefully cohort in March 2025. Together, we can provide women who deserve a second chance the opportunity to reinvent their futures. #pivotpurposefully #formerlyincarcerated #secondchance #reducerecidivism #entrepreneur #women

Over the last five months, I have never experienced more professional joy. The joy was not a result of my personal accomplishments on the campaign, but instead had everything to do with building a beautiful community. It was an absolute joy listening to countless voters, meeting with local candidates, engaging with community leaders, reviewing strategies, working with our political team, organizing canvass launches, and most importantly working towards a common cause and North Star that was bigger than any one person. Many of you have reached out to me to ask how to keep the momentum going. As I’m focused intensely on closing everything out properly this month, I look forward to engaging with each of you who are interested in ‘Doing Something to Keep the Momentum Going’ in the near future. You can complete the link in comments to express your interest and I will be in touch next month. Please always remember that the best is yet to come… #dosomething #community #purejoy

We celebrate all of the successful alumni of our of our Pivot Purposefully accelerator. In addition to bringing tools and resources to help our founders start and/or scale their businesses, we have also launched RiseHealth Compass to ensure that you are taking care of your health. Your greatest asset is your personal health. Join us today on the journey to save founders lives! Let’s RISE together!