From Prison Cells To PhD

Name

From Prison Cells To PhD

Legal name

From Prison Cells To PhD

Website

https://fromprisoncellstophd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Reentry, Rehabilitation & Reintegration Programs (Education, Vocational, Case Management) (BPAKANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corrections & Reentry Adult Literacy (Justice-Involved Learners) (EDAAAAAL), Professional & Applied Skills Noncredit Certificates (Non-licensure) (EDAAAEAD)

Keywords

• Nonprofit education access
• Incarcerated student support
• Reentry education programs
• DEI consulting services
• Higher education equity

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Foundation Funding: P2P receives significant funding from foundations and government grants. Notable funders include Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Research & Evaluation, 2022), NIH (ComPASS $12M 10-year contract, P2P House), Mellon Foundation ($1.8M award for NAP), and Baltimore City Mayor award ($1M in 2024).
2. Consulting and DEI Training Services: Fee-for-service consulting engagements with Fortune 500 companies, universities, and government agencies for diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Pricing ranges based on organization type with $250/hour base rate mentioned.
3. Speaking Engagements: Revenue generation through speaking bureau featuring formerly incarcerated experts. Negotiable speaking fees range depending on organization type and event format (short talk, panel, workshop, training).
4. Individual Donations: Individual donor support through website donation functionality. Part of broader fundraising strategy.
5. Research Contracts: The Andrisse Lab receives externally funded research grants including NIH 1R01DK126892 (5-year, $1.2M/year) and NIH 1T34GM142610 for Bridges to Baccalaureate program. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals contract for PCOS research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

From Prison Cells To PhD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides higher education access, mentorship, and reentry support services to currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. Its offerings include scholarship support, pen-pal mentorship, a womxn's cohort, community-of-practice training (P2P ComPASS), DEI consulting for organizations, transitional housing, and a Bridges to Baccalaureate pathway into four-year degrees.

Product overview

From Prison Cells To PhD (P2P) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of programs centered on helping justice-impacted individuals pursue higher education and professional careers. The core offering is the P2P Scholars Program, a comprehensive mentorship and educational counseling service providing college application assistance, test prep, leadership training, and ongoing mentoring. Additional programs include the Womxn's Cohort (a virtual community for women), P2P ComPASS (a telehealth and education research project), Pen Pal Program (for currently incarcerated individuals), Speakers Bureau, DEI Consulting services, Transitional Housing, Neighborhood Access Program, and Bridges to Baccalaureate research training. The organization also operates an e-commerce shop. All programs share a common theory of change: education reduces recidivism and improves outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• P2P Scholars Program Scholarship and direct support program for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals pursuing higher education.

Quantifiable outcome

• 97.5% post-secondary education matriculation rate vs 25% for non-P2P applicants
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Alnylam PharmaceuticalsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Contract (Feb 2023-Feb 2024) for analysis of hepatic AR knockdown for targeted treatment of PCOS. Uses proprietary therapeutic compounds in mouse model research.
• Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComPASS partner site. 18 state prisons, 67% in rural areas. P2P provides internet access, telehealth services, and educational programming in 7 facilities.
• Missouri Department of CorrectionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComPASS partner site. 21 state prisons, 81% of counties classified as rural. P2P provides internet access and programming in 7 facilities.
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComPASS co-investigator Rebecca Fix, PhD serves through subaward. Collaborates on research design, survey methodology, and evaluation of structural interventions.
• Imperial College LondonminorOthersWorkforce equity consulting client. P2P consults on creating equitable workplace environments supporting individuals with justice-involved backgrounds.
• Harvard/LabXchangeminorOthersWorkforce equity consulting client. P2P provides training on justice-involved talent.
• NASAminorOthersWorkforce equity consulting client for inclusive workplace practices.
• SUNYminorOthersHigher education in prison partnership. P2P provides expertise for prison education programs.
• Jobs For the FutureminorOthersWorkforce development consulting and collaboration on employment opportunities for justice-impacted individuals.
• Johns Hopkins UniversityminorOthersWorkforce equity consulting client for inclusive workplace environments.
• Howard University College of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Stanley Andrisse serves as Assistant Professor. Site for 10-week STEM research internship for B2B program. Academic partner for Bridges to Baccalaureate program.
• Baltimore City Community College (BCCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBridges to Baccalaureate partner. Students transition from incarceration to BCCC for 2-year associate's degree before transferring to Howard University.
• Bard CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAP partner providing accredited college courses to incarcerated individuals and their families.
• Life UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAP partner providing accredited college courses and wrap-around reentry support.
• Healthy RoutinescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMellon Foundation partnership. Connects currently and formerly incarcerated individuals to higher education, employment, and housing. NAP Site.
• The Dr. Muhammad Experience (DME)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMellon Foundation partnership. Academic director Bahiyyah Muhammad serves via subaward. Provides wrap-around reentry support.
• Light To LifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Womxn's Cohort. Gender-responsive, trauma-informed technical assistance for justice-impacted women and survivors of gender-based violence. 500+ women served nationally.
• St. Patrick CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMissouri ComPASS partner. Transforms lives through sustainable housing, employment, and healthcare for formerly incarcerated.
• Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity-based partner providing speaker seminars on educational success and career development for P2P scholars.
• STEM-OPSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational alliance for STEM opportunities in prison settings. STEM Scholars from P2P are part of STEM-OPS Speakers Bureau.
• Unlock Higher Education CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of stakeholders advocating for policy solutions to increase educational access for individuals with criminal convictions. P2P leads policy priorities including Pell Restoration and Ban the Box.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Defy Ventures: Defy Ventures provides entrepreneurship training, mentoring, and startup incubation to people with criminal histories, often using formerly incarcerated facilitators. Strong parallel to P2P's mentoring- and lived-experience-led model aimed at career reinvention for the justice-impacted.
• Center for Justice Innovation: Center for Justice Innovation works at the intersection of criminal justice and community services, including programs that support justice-impacted individuals returning to education and work. Comparable to P2P's community-driven, evidence-based approach and similar funder base.
• Bard Prison Initiative: BPI delivers accredited college degrees to people incarcerated in New York State prisons and is a named NAP partner of P2P. Both focus on higher-education access inside prisons and share the goal of credential attainment for incarcerated learners.
• Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO): CEO is a national nonprofit providing transitional employment and workforce development to people returning from incarceration. Comparable to P2P in its focus on workforce outcomes and post-release employment for formerly incarcerated individuals (where P2P reports 91.9% employment vs CEO's outcomes focus).
• JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA): JLUSA is a nonprofit led by directly impacted individuals that works to reduce mass incarceration through leadership development, advocacy, and policy reform. It is comparable to P2P in its led-by-impacted-people model and policy/advocacy orientation.
• The Fortune Society: Fortune Society is a reentry nonprofit in New York offering education, employment, housing, and advocacy services to justice-impacted individuals. It directly parallels P2P's mix of educational counseling, mentoring, and policy advocacy for people with criminal convictions.
• College and Community Fellowship (CCF): CCF provides higher-education access, mentoring, and policy advocacy for women impacted by incarceration. It is a tight peer to P2P's Womxn's Cohort and Scholars Program and shares the higher-education-in-prison theory of change.

Broad incumbents

• Vera Institute of Justice: Vera is a larger, established nonprofit working on criminal justice reform including reentry, education access, and policy advocacy. It overlaps with P2P on justice-impacted higher education and policy work but operates at significantly greater scale across multiple criminal-justice touchpoints, not just direct reentry education.
• The Sentencing Project: The Sentencing Project is a national research and advocacy organization focused on criminal justice policy reform, including higher-education access for the incarcerated. Overlaps with P2P on policy advocacy (e.g., Pell Restoration, Ban the Box) but does not deliver direct reentry education services.

Regional players

• Safer Foundation: Safer is one of the largest reentry nonprofits in the U.S., based in Illinois, providing education, employment, and case management to justice-impacted individuals. Comparable in service mix but concentrated regionally in the Chicago/Midwest area whereas P2P focuses on MD/MO plus national reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@fromprisoncellstophdinc8669
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/from-prison-cells-to-phd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about From Prison Cells To PhD