H.R. No. 175
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Catherine Rohr and the Prison Entrepreneurship
Program have been named to the Philanthropy World Hall of Fame, and
this honor provides fitting recognition of the program's admirable
success in helping others; and
WHEREAS, A graduate of the Haas School of Business at the
University of California at Berkeley, Ms. Rohr established a
successful career before focusing on philanthropy; she was employed
at Summit Partners in Palo Alto, California, and as director of
investment development at American Securities Capital Partners in
New York; and
WHEREAS, In 2004, after visiting a Texas prison and meeting a
former inmate who had started a thriving handyman business, Ms.
Rohr had the idea to offer business training to inmates; she
relocated to Texas to operate the privately funded Prison
Entrepreneurship Program to provide values-based entrepreneurial
instruction to Texas prison inmates; currently based at the
Cleveland Correctional Center in Cleveland, Texas, the four-month
PEP program teaches participants how to create, develop, and
present a business plan; and
WHEREAS, PEP has recruited more than 800 senior executives
and financial industry professionals to serve as mentors and
business plan judges; the program's inmate participants also
benefit from weekly advice from over 400 students from top MBA
programs across the nation; and
WHEREAS, PEP's innovative and constructive techniques have
led to remarkable results; more than 400 inmates have completed the
program so far; the vast majority are gainfully employed, and
dozens have started their own businesses; the recidivism rate of
the program's graduates is less than 5 percent, compared to more
than 50 percent for prisoners nationwide; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Rohr's remarkable program has previously won the
Criminal Justice Volunteer Service Award from Governor Rick Perry
and the Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Manhattan Institute
for Policy Research; and
WHEREAS, Catherine Rohr's unique combination of compassion,
creativity, and business acumen is helping convicted criminals to
chart a more productive course for their lives, and her efforts
provide a positive example of the way in which citizens can make a
difference in the world around them; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby congratulate Catherine Rohr and the Prison
Entrepreneurship Program for being enrolled in the Philanthropy
World Hall of Fame and that Ms. Rohr and the program's staff and
participants be extended sincere best wishes for continued success;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Ms. Rohr as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.
Madden
McCall
Paxton
Laubenberg
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 175 was adopted by the House on
February 10, 2009, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House