Prison Coding Program to Begin
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA program to teach prison inmates coding skills officially gets underway Thursday at the Indiana Women’s Prison. Governor Eric Holcomb and The Last Mile board member and rapper MC Hammer will be among those taking part in the ceremony.
The Last Mile, which has drawn praise from the likes of the Obama administration and Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg, offers coding classes, mentorship and job placement services to inmates. Indiana is the second state in the nation to adopt the program, behind California, where The Last Mile is based.
Kenyatta Leal, a founding member of The Last Mile, served 19 years in prison for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. In January, he told Inside INdiana Business Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman the program allowed him to "transform my hustle" and use his entrepreneurial spirit toward something constructive.
The Last Mile co-founder Beverly Parenti, Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner Robert Carter and inaugural class member Virginia Hooten will also take part in Thursday afternoon’s ceremony.