In May, 36 men at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility crossed a stage in caps and gowns. They’d just completed Defy Ventures’ Entrepreneur-in-Training program—a seven-month curriculum that blends business fundamentals with intensive personal development. There were Shark Tank–style pitches, volunteer mentorships, and the kind of storytelling not usually welcomed inside prison walls.
Quan Huynh, Defy’s Southern California executive director, knows exactly what it means to stand in their shoes. He spent over two decades behind bars. “I joined Defy Ventures as an EIT while incarcerated with a life sentence,” he says. In his final year at Solano State Prison, he signed up for the program and discovered not just the mechanics of entrepreneurship, but a new way to see himself. “We always remind the EITs that they are not defined by their worst mistake,” Huynh says. “And that we believe in them.”
It’s not just talk—Defy’s numbers back it up. The nonprofit reports that 84 percent of its graduates find employment within 90 days of release, and its one-year recidivism rate is in the single digits.
This spring’s event marked a milestone not just for the men inside, but also for the more than 40 community members who spent the day volunteering. Among them was Ricky Weaver, a community organizer who was once incarcerated at Donovan himself. Walking back in—this time with a volunteer badge—was “surreal,” he says. “I used to walk this yard in prison blues, and now I was returning to cheer on my brothers.”
Weaver’s return was emotional. “We did an exercise to share our stories, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” he recalls. “Watching those men pitch their ideas, I saw myself in them. I never imagined I’d set foot here again on the other side of the fence.”
Barbara Donnell, another volunteer, remembers a quiet moment over lunch. “An EIT told me the best part of the day was to be seen as a full human being—with dignity,” she says. “He said the pain and shame around the reason he came to Donovan torments him all the time.”
Cyndi Smith, co-founder of Fierce & Kind Spirits, also spent the day inside. “To celebrate the completion of their seven-month commitment to the Defy program, to witness the progress of their business ideas and their confidence—it’s such a powerful, emotion-provoking experience,” she says. “The gift that is returned to us as mentors is far greater than what we bring. It feels like a deep connection to our humanity.”
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That kind of exchange—where vulnerability meets accountability—is what Huynh says powers the program. “Every time I share my story, I’m reminded: we’re not just talking about second chances. We’re fighting for the first real one many people never had.”
Nearly two decades after his own incarceration at Donovan, Huynh now leads Defy’s Southern California chapter. He walks back into the same prison, this time holding a clipboard. Not to prove anything, he says, but to show others what’s possible. “I want to help others believe in their own unlimited potential.”
