Bert Smith, Prison Entrepreneurship Program

So, You Think YOUR Business is Tough?

If you thought being in business for yourself was tough enough, imagine making prison your career!

Our speaker, Bert Smith began investing in the lives of convicted felons and other executives. His program, the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, is an innovative non-profit on a mission to spark positive transformation in the lives of convicted felons and volunteer executives. PEP works intensively with felons before and after their release to help them learn how to start and run honest businesses.

Almost 300 businesses have been started by PEP graduates. 

About Our Speaker

Bert Smith has served as CEO of PEP since 2010. Prior to that, he was an executive and early stage investor in a variety of industries, including a company that developed a national network of DVD rental kiosks; a global joint venture developing integrated waste processing and energy recovery plants; and a pioneering company that developed, owned and operated cogeneration and other private power projects.

Mr. Smith is a Houston native and a graduate of Princeton University and the UT School of Law. He is an active member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and the Executives Association of Houston, and he also serves on the board of Houston: ReVision, serving kids on the edge through radically tender relationships.

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