On September 19, 2019, after attending the B Corp Champions Retreat in Los Angeles earlier that week, I volunteered as a coach with Defy Ventures at the California Institution for Women.

The timing was striking.

Conversations at the B Corp gathering explored inclusive economies, systemic change, and redefining success beyond profit. One day later, Defy’s work demonstrated those ideas in practice through entrepreneurship, mentorship, and opportunities designed to support currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.

The coaching day brought volunteers and participants together for conversations centered on goals, possibilities, and life beyond incarceration.

The experience reinforced something important: Potential exists everywhere. Opportunity does not always.

Programs like Defy challenge assumptions about who deserves investment while illustrating how access, community, and belief in people can influence what becomes possible moving forward.