The Last Mile

Paving The Road To Success

The Daunting Problem

The U.S. makes up

25%

of the world’s incarcerated population, but only 5% of the total world population.

There has been a

700%

increase to our prison population since the 1970s.

Annually, Nearly

$48B

is spent on prisons for state and federal institutions.

Over

55%

is the rate of recidivism.

Our Solution

We are in

23

classrooms across six states.

We have served

745

students and counting since 2010.

We have

313

Returned Citizens who have successfully rejoined society.

Our graduates boast a

0%

recidivism rate.

Our Story

In 2010, Chris Redlitz entered San Quentin State Prison for the first time. Because of his background in venture capital, he was invited to speak to a group of men about business and entrepreneurship. He was so impressed by the men’s level of business knowledge and desire to learn, he began to nurture the idea of creating a Technology Accelerator inside the prison. His wife and business partner, Beverly Parenti, was not immediately enamored with the idea, but they agreed to immerse themselves into the issue of incarceration in America, and find a path to help resolve this daunting problem.

Chris Redlitz and TLM students looking at computer screen

Beverly agreed to join Chris on a journey to create The Last Mile (TLM). Since its inception The Last Mile has generated a groundswell of support for criminal justice across America. Never before have we experienced such a cooperative, non-partisan effort to curb the problem of mass incarceration. Imagine if we could break the cycle of incarceration and instead of spending tax dollars for prison, we could spend these tax dollars on higher education, and provide educational opportunities for youth in underserved communities. This would enable them to choose a different path than one of crime. With education and career training opportunities we could break the generational cycle of incarceration. There’s plenty of proof that the impact of one man’s incarceration is felt by families and communities for decades.

Beverly Parenti and formerly incarcerated TLM graduate

The Last Mile Timeline

May 14 2021

TLM is selected as a winner of Barron’s Celebrates Educational Inclusion 2021.

April 29 2021

TLM helps launch Grow with Google Career Readiness for Reentry Program, providing professional development resources to returned citizens and incarcerated people across the country.

March 1 2021

TLM reopens a Web Development Program in partnership with CDCR in Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, CA after a prolonged closure.

February 2 2021

TLM is selected as a winner of MIT Pathways to Reimagining Employment in the US Challenge 2020.

December 10 2020

Inaugural graduation at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McCloud, OK, featuring virtual appearances by Priscilla Chan and MC Hammer.

October 19 2020

TLM Intro to Web Design and Development Program launches in across youth facilities with TLM programs.

October 1 2020

The Last Mile to launch in North Dakota at a men’s facility.

September 29 2020

TLM is selected as a winner of MIT Solve 2020.

September 1 2020

TLM starts distributing offline curriculum during Covid-19 closures.

June 25 2020

TLM dual live broadcasts from Putnamville and Rockville Correctional Facilities (IN) for The Recount’s Shift Series.

April 14 2020

TLM launches the DRP-TV program across the CDCR DRP network, presenting interviews hosted by TLM staff to all incarcerated people in California.

February 28 2020

Inaugural graduation at Topeka Correctional Facility in Topeka, KS. Several TLM staff attended in person and gave graduation keynote speeches.

October 22 2019

Parnall Correctional Facility becomes the first men’s facility with TLM programming in Michigan

March 25 2019

Putnamville Correctional Facility becomes the first men’s facility with TLM programming in Indiana

February 11 2019

The Last Mile opens a classroom in the Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility (Oklahoma), funded by the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative

January 14 2019

Topeka Correctional Facility becomes the first women’s facility with TLM programming in Kansas

December 4 2018

Google.org announces partnership with TLM Youth Facilities.

August 15 2018

Next Chapter, The Last Mile’s partnership with Slack, Kellogg Foundation, and FreeAmerica, announced.

May 25 2018

First Juvenile facility welcomes The Last Mile program at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility.

April 6 2018

The Last Mile expands for the first time outside of California in partnership with the State of Indiana at IWP.

February 18 2017

TLM Radio launches with SiriusXM

March 17 2016

Launch of TLM Works, a web development shop inside San Quentin, that operates as a Joint Venture with CalPIA.

January 4 2016

The Last Mile begins programming at the first women’s facility, Folsom Women’s Facility.

June 24 2015

Ironwood State Prison program launched.

August 20 2014

The Last Mile begins programming as Code.7370 at San Quentin in partnership with CalPIA.

May 18 2012

The first six graduating TLM Students have their first Demo Day in front of 350+ business and tech C-Suite executives, entrepreneurs, government officials, and prominent news organizations.

December 18 2010

The Last Mile started a entrepreneurship programing inside San Quentin for the first time.

October 23 2010

The Last Mile Starts

Chris Redlitz enters San Quentin and is inspired to ask his wife Beverly Parenti to join him in starting a program

TLM Team

  • Beverly Parenti

    Executive Director, Founder

  • Andrea Henkel

    Chief Operating Officer

  • Ashley Gander

    Ashley Gander

    Returned Citizen Advocate

  • Brett Buskirk

    Remote Instruction Coordinator

  • Carrie Murchison

    Reentry Manager

  • Audio Program Specialist

    Dan Tinkler

    Audio Program Specialist

  • Darnell Hill

    Returned Citizen Advocate

  • deven anthony portrait

    Deven Anthony

    Operations Support Engineer

  • Emily Lundy

    Operations Coordinator

  • Erin Palumbo

    Senior Programs Manager

  • Jason Charley-Jones

    Sr Manager of Partnerships

  • Jasper Conacher

    Programs Intern

  • Jesse Lofland

    Senior Curriculum Developer

  • Julia Schnoll

    Classroom Operations Manager

  • Keefe Dashiell

    Web Development Education Apprentice

  • Matthew Nelson

    Sr Manager of Classroom Operations

  • Mike Bowie

    Director of Engineering

  • Mike Christenson

    Remote Instructor

  • Molly Rowe

    Molly Rowe

    Returned Citizen Advocate

  • Peter Nguyen

    Remote Instructor

  • Precious Hicks

    Lead Remote Instruction Coordinator

  • Sam Sloan

    Curriculum Developer

  • Surekha Weinberg

    Surekha Weinberg

    Senior Academic Support Specialist

  • Syd Heller

    Chief Program Officer

  • Terrell Lemons

    Web Development Education Apprentice

  • Tulio Cardozo

    IT Manager

  • Vah Saechao

    Web Developer

  • Walker Delbo

    Audio Program Specialist

Beverly Parenti

Executive Director, Founder

Beverly Parenti is a serial entrepreneur, specializing in the advancement of innovative technologies. Along with longtime business partner and husband, Chris Redlitz, she launched their nonprofit,The Last Mile (TLM) in 2010 at San Quentin State Prison. The goal of TLM is to provide education and training inside prison, resulting in gainful employment for returned citizen graduates, thereby reducing recidivism. TLM has become one of the most requested prison education programs in the United States. It is the first program to offer a computer programming curriculum that teaches men and women to become software engineers. All TLM “Returned Citizen Graduates” are prospering personally and professionally with 0% recidivism.

Andrea Henkel

Chief Operating Officer

Andrea is passionate about leveraging the power of education to address systemic inequity. She has worked in a various roles at different education-focused organizations: she taught at public, private, and non-public schools throughout New York City; designed curricula and game-based learning experiences at the Institute of Play and TenMarks Education; coached first-year teachers in partnership with San Francisco Unified Public Schools; and managed a team of curriculum developers at Girls Who Code. She is inspired and humbled every day by the students, colleagues, and community she works with at TLM.

Ashley Gander

Ashley Gander

Returned Citizen Advocate

Ashley is a returned citizen of The Last Mile program out of Rockville Correctional Facility. After learning how to program in the MERN stack, she is now pursuing her dream of helping others accomplish their goals as a Returned Citizen Advocate. She is very passionate about her role and determined to change society’s views of the formerly incarcerated one returned citizen at a time.

Brett Buskirk

Remote Instruction Coordinator

Brett is a returned citizen after twenty-four years of incarceration. He learned how to develop websites using the MERN stack while attending The Last Mile program in Indiana. He is a lifelong learner, having a passion for all things tech related, mathematics, and physics. He has a particular love for React, but hopes to learn additional languages and stacks in order to build more complex applications and round out his skills.

Leveraging his position at The Last Mile, Brett wishes to make a difference by being an educator and example for those who have walked a rough road in life. He hopes that his story of determination, perseverance, and success will lead others to follow suit.

Carrie Murchison

Reentry Manager

Carrie is a returned citizen of the Last Mile program from Folsom Women’s Prison. Released in August 2019, she is now helping other participants as an Academic Support Representative. Carrie is focused on furthering her education and building upon her abilities as a full stack developer. She is currently proficient in HTML, CSS, Javascript, NodeJS, SQL, and mySql.

Audio Program Specialist

Dan Tinkler

Audio Program Specialist

Dan Tinkler is a lifelong musician whose passion for performance and musical study led him into the world of audio engineering. He has spent the last 11 years working in recording studios and venues in Chicago with artists from all over the country. Dan always had a passion for sharing his knowledge of audio with others and received his masters from Northwestern University in 2018 to pursue teaching in higher education. He began working as an adjunct instructor at Flashpoint College before joining The Last Mile as an Audio Program Specialist. Dan is eager to continue to share his love for audio with students and grow the audio community with passionate engineers.

Darnell Hill

Returned Citizen Advocate

Darnell Hill is a Re-entry Coordinator for The Last Mile and a Returned Citizen from the founding class of The Last Mile’s entrepreneurial program. Darnell was a peer mentor while in custody and volunteer ambassador as a Returned Citizen. He has over fifteen years of experience with in-custody and community re-entry case management, group facilitation, workshop coordination, and community engagement. Darnell has an AA degree in Communications with certifications in Cognitive Behavioral Thinking. Darnell is a passionate motivational speaker who believes opportunities are created once we align our passion with our purpose.

deven anthony portrait

Deven Anthony

Operations Support Engineer

My name is Deven Anthony. I started my interest in computer science after taking a coding course at my local community college, after that I dove head first into the world of computing. I started my career working as an IT Technician for a small construction company in Napa California, as well as contributing to multiple open source projects in my spare time. My other interest including filming, video production, and aviation.

Emily Lundy

Operations Coordinator

Emily is the Operations Coordinator at The Last Mile. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, she got involved in the Inside/Out program and participated in the Pittsburgh Prison Outreach, an organization that helped with book donations and letter writing to those in prison in the Allegheny area.

Erin Palumbo

Senior Programs Manager

Erin Palumbo is the Operations Coordinator at The Last Mile. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh where she studied social work. After moving to Australia to complete her education, Erin worked with youth involved in the juvenile justice system.  This experience led to an interest in education and rehabilitation programs for incarcerated individuals. 

Jason Charley-Jones

Sr Manager of Partnerships

Jason Charley-Jones, TLM graduate, Software Engineer and Remote Instruction Manager for The Last Mile, is an experienced web developer and passionate about working with system impacted youth that come from disadvantaged backgrounds. He volunteers at McClymonds High School in West Oakland teaching computer coding. He is determined to create systemic change for those who share his lived experiences, and is hopeful that in doing so it will change the world. #createChange

Jasper Conacher

Programs Intern

Jasper is a Programs Intern at The Last Mile. She is a current undergraduate student at New York University where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Carceral Studies, Civil Rights, and Law and a Social and Public Policy, and Peace and Conflict Studies double minor. While previously interning with organizations focused on women’s rights, Jasper aspires to apply an intersectional, feminist lens to the work TLM is doing to reduce the negative impact of the Prison Industrial Complex. She is excited to be spending her summer working at an organization that is committed to addressing the inequities that contribute to mass incarceration and shifting the societal views of current and previously incarcerated individuals within the United States.

Jesse Lofland

Senior Curriculum Developer

Jesse is the Senior Curriculum Developer at The Last Mile. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer with five years of classroom teaching experience in the Bay Area and abroad, Jesse brings his pedagogic expertise to serve TLM’s diverse range of learners. He is a boot-camp graduate and has worked in coding instruction to help students and professionals of varying proficiencies bring their dreams to life by writing full-stack applications.

Collaborating closely with TLM’s curriculum developers to implement new lessons and the facilitator team to effectively deliver curriculum, Jesse leads TLM’s effort to provide all program participants the skills they need to find work and build projects outside of prison.

Julia Schnoll

Classroom Operations Manager

Julia Schnoll graduated from the University of Oregon where she studied International Studies with an emphasis in Human Rights and Law. In her senior year, she participated in the Inside Out Exchange Program, a college course that brings together traditional university students and incarcerated students for a semester-long class at Oregon State Penitentiary. This experience sparked her interest in fostering educational programs for people entangled in the justice system.

Keefe Dashiell

Web Development Education Apprentice

Keefe discovered his passion for education while incarcerated and learned to code in The Last Mile. He is proficient with Full Stack Web Development with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Express, MongoDB, and React. He has two Associate of Arts degrees in Business & Technology, and Social & Behavioral Sciences. He is currently enrolled in a Software Engineering program at Sabio. He would love to create tech opportunities for at-risk youth. Today he is in a position to give back as a Web Development Education Apprentice at The Last Mile and a criminal justice reform advocate.

Matthew Nelson

Sr Manager of Classroom Operations

Matthew is an educator, artist, and activist who believes in challenging systemic inequities through the radical reimagining of tech education. Prior to joining TLM, he worked as a classroom teacher and teacher-trainer in California, Maine, Russia, and Nepal. Matthew’s introduction to coding came in 2017 when he discovered the live-coding music platform, Sonic Pi. Since that time, he has become passionate about coding as both a professional skill and a creative endeavor.

Mike Bowie

Director of Engineering

Mike Bowie is the Director of Engineering, leading the long-term technology vision for The Last Mile. He is responsible for the architecture and implementation of the technology infrastructure, systems, and evolving programs. Mike has spent his career enabling people and businesses through technology driven solutions and is extremely passionate about designing innovative systems at TLM, to change lives through technology.

Prior to joining TLM, Mike established the IT organization for a healthcare business, growing the team and their platforms from those of a startup to a scalable operation. With over twenty years of technology experience, he has developed a number of engineering teams and worked in many distinct facets of the industry – from software development to hardware design. He has provided oversight and design guidance to a multitude of startups.

He has a soft spot for arcade game restoration, considers himself a “reformed” marathoner, and is currently attempting to re-training for obstacle racing.

Mike Christenson

Remote Instructor

Mike is a LMS Developer for The Last Mile. Mike is a recent graduate of General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive Program. Following his graduation he was hired on as an Instructional Assistant at General Assembly where he assisted the teachers and students alike in all capacities. He works in HTML, CSS JavaScript (ES6), MERN stack and RubyOn Rails technologies. Currently, he’s working on using Elm to build a single page app.
His focus is on prison reform and bringing code to those who may not be fortunate enough to receive education and training. In his free time, Mike enjoys (no surprise here) coding! Problem solving and discovering new technologies fosters his love for programming.

Molly Rowe

Molly Rowe

Returned Citizen Advocate

Molly is a graduate of The Last Mile program at Indiana Women’s Prison. She is passionate about helping returned citizens as a Returned Citizen Advocate in the Reentry Department. Molly strongly believes in The Last Mile and in the power of supporting others through their reentry journey.

Peter Nguyen

Remote Instructor

I first joined The Last Mile as a student in 2017 at Ironwood where I learned HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. With a foundation set in programming I then went on to General Assembly’s fully immersive software engineering bootcamp in 2020 where I learned full stack software development with technologies such as Mongoose, Express, React.js, Node.js and MongoDB through project based curriculums. My desire is to utilize my knowledge in programming to make a positive social impact in my community and the world.

Precious Hicks

Lead Remote Instruction Coordinator

Precious Hicks has always been passionate about using art, education, and healing work to elevate. She discovered her passion for prison reform and education while participating in The Last Mile program in Folsom Women’s Facility. Now as the Lead Remote Instruction Coordinator, she is passionate about using education to unlock human potential, Precious is proud to be part of a company that is making steps towards assisting in people creating a better future for themselves and their families. In her spare time she uses her platform to work towards changing the narrative of the prison system and curating spaces for personal growth.

Sam Sloan

Curriculum Developer

Sam is a Curriculum Developer at The Last Mile. She has always been passionate about the intersection of design, programming and education reform, and more specifically, how human-centered design can be used to unlock potential. Prior to working at The Last Mile, Sam worked in education reform in a number of different capacities: As an educator, an advocate, and program designer. She has taught and designed a number of courses in design, web development and computer science.

Surekha Weinberg

Surekha Weinberg

Senior Academic Support Specialist

Surekha is a returned citizen of The Last Mile program out of the California Institute for Women, and a graduate of the Web Development Education Apprenticeship program. She has now embarked on a new journey with The Last Mile as a Senior Academic Support Specialist. In this role, her goal is to utilize her passion for education to help other participants achieve success as well as improve her own computer coding skills. She is currently proficient in HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery, and Bootstrap.

Syd Heller

Chief Program Officer

Syd started his career as a full stack web developer in the public sector in 2012, after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Russian Language and Literature. As a result of his undergraduate work, as well as his participation in the Russian Language Flagship, Syd is passionate about acquisition and pedagogy of both spoken and coding languages. Syd first learned about in-prison programs after volunteering with the Prison Education Project in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Syd’s first position at TLM involved working with the Web Developers at the TLM Works Development Shop. Syd then transitioned into an administrative role outside the classroom environment and currently serves as TLM’s Chief Program Officer. Syd continually draws on his experience as a language learner, self-taught web developer, and day-to-day work with TLM students and in-facility staff to inform his decisions regarding the TLM program, platform, and vision.

Terrell Lemons

Web Development Education Apprentice

Terrell joined The Last Mile in 2016 as a student in Ironwood State Prison. Released in February 2020, he immediately pursued his passion for Web Development and enrolled in General Assembly’s Software Engineering Immersive. Focused on his passion to be a Full-Stack Developer, he enrolled as a student at Cal State Fullerton University, where he is majoring in Computer Software Engineering. He is proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Mongoose/MongoDb, Express, React, NodeJS, Python, Command Line, Git, and C++.

Tulio Cardozo

IT Manager

IT Manager, Tulio Cardozo, works with The Last Mile to support the student and staff’s experience as it relates to technology across TLM’s learning services, proprietary network, and physical device infrastructure spanning three timezones.

Tulio’s career with The Last Mile initially started eight years ago as a founding graduate of The Last Mile Entrepreneurship Program. After serving seven years in state prison, Tulio has successfully transitioned into a technology career in San Francisco, CA.

Tulio is a state-credentialed employee and previously managed TLM Works, at San Quentin State Prison, the same prison he resided during his incarceration. TLM Works is the first-ever web development shop staffed by currently and formerly incarcerated web developers working for “outside” companies.

Aside from The Last Mile, Tulio has worked as a business analyst for technology accelerator, KickLabs, mastered WordPress as an independent contractor, lead engineering and development at Launch Podium (a tech startup in San Francisco), and has taught Web Design and Coding through Five Keys Charter School, to residents of the San Francisco County Jail and the San Francisco Adult Probation Department.

Vah Saechao

Web Developer

Vah Saechao was formerly incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. He is a web developer for The Last Mile. All of his software skills were learned in prison. Vah is a constant learner and enjoys working as a team. Skilled in JavaScript, Reactjs, Nodejs, MongoDB, MySql, Python, and WordPress. He is passionate about sciences like physics, statistics, and would like to add Machine Learning to the list in the near future.

Walker Delbo

Audio Program Specialist

Walker graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2010 with a degree in Art and spent the next several years working as an educator and touring musician. During this time he developed an interest in working with youth from disadvantaged backgrounds and got a chance to pursue that interest when he joined The Last Mile in 2020 as Classroom Facilitator for the coding program at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility. The opportunity to combine his passions in music and education arose when he transitioned into the role of Audio Program Specialist for one of TLM’s forthcoming curricular offerings. Walker now spends his time researching audio technology, developing curriculum, and making art alongside a river near the base of a small dam in Ojai, California.

Directors and Advisors

  • Beverly Parenti

  • Chris Redlitz

  • John Hamm

  • MC Hammer

  • Peter Stern

  • Sway Calloway

Beverly Parenti

Beverly Parenti is a serial entrepreneur, specializing in the advancement of innovative technologies. Along with longtime business partner and husband, Chris Redlitz, she launched their nonprofit,The Last Mile (TLM) in 2010 at San Quentin State Prison. The goal of TLM is to provide education and training inside prison, resulting in gainful employment for returned citizen graduates, thereby reducing recidivism. TLM has become one of the most requested prison education programs in the United States. It is the first program to offer a computer programming curriculum that teaches men and women to become software engineers. All TLM “Returned Citizen Graduates” are prospering personally and professionally with 0% recidivism.

Chris Redlitz

Chris Redlitz is the Managing Partner of Transmedia Capital, one of the best performing micro funds in Silicon Valley, focused on early stage digital media and commerce platforms. Chris has worked with many aspiring entrepreneurs through KickLabs, one of the country’s leading technology accelerators he co-founded in 2009. He received Ad Age’s prestigious i20 award for his contributions to the development of interactive marketing and advertising. Earlier in his career, Chris was part of Reebok’s explosive growth where he held positions in sales and marketing and also owned one of the first specialty sports retail chains in Southern California. For over twenty years, Chris was a distance runner completing marathons and ultra marathons. Today he is an avid cyclist and health advocate.

John Hamm

John Hamm has a diverse background as a technology CEO, a venture investor, and a leadership coach/advisor and Board member. Hamm has been an investor and Board member at Brocade (NASDAQ:BRCD), Ironport (acquired by Cisco), SiliconStor (acquired by LSI Logic), Documentum (acquired by EMC), Truveo (acquired by AOL), and Webify (acquired by IBM). From April, 2013 to August 2014, John was CEO of PonoMusic, a project founded by Neil Young, dedicated to restoring the quality of studio master music recordings for consumers who value audio/musical fidelity. John’s popular leadership book, “Unusually Excellent” (Wiley – Jossey Bass, 2010) is available in Kindle or hardback at Amazon.com. Hamm has been published in Fast Company, Business 2.0, Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, and The WSJ.

MC Hammer

A multi-award winner, M.C. Hammer is a rapper, dancer, entrepreneur, spokesman and occasional actor. He is considered a pioneer and innovator of pop rap by incorporating elements of freestyle music, and is the first hip hop artist to achieve diamond status for an album. Throughout his career, Hammer has managed his own recording business. As a result, he has created and produced his own acts including Oaktown’s 3.5.7, Common Unity, Special Generation, Analise, One Cause One Effect, and more.

Peter Stern

Peter Stern has been a dedicated adviser to TLM, providing educational lectures inside San Quentin, hosting TLM team events, and providing mentorship to many TLM returned citizen graduates.

Peter Stern is the Head of US Investments for Alibaba. Peter was formerly a senior banker from the technology, media and telecoms M&A team at Credit Suisse in New York. Peter is a graduate of Northwestern University and received his MBA for Wharton.

Sway Calloway

Host of the top rated “Sway in the Morning” on SiriusXM. Already a vanguard radio personality, record producer and hip-hop artist, Sway joined the MTV News team in 2000 and has been front and center for some of music’s biggest moments. Sway is an integral part of MTV News’ annual live-event coverage of the MTV VMAs, Grammy pre-show and the EMAs. Sway also serves as an MTV Executive Producer and brings new programming ideas to the station. He also includes additional duties with MTV2 and host of the weekly MTV Radio syndication show that airs in over 50 plus cities across the country.
His work continues throughout the nation and community where he has been a part of various panels and discussions hosting and moderating on important issues like Hate Crimes, Racism and Education.

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