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We decided to try out Pinterest.

There’s so much ‘stuff’ that comes across our desks and inboxes that could be useful to someone, so we’ve been looking for a good way to share cool things we find and see. Enter Pinterest.

Most people use Pinterest to share food, interior design ideas, or clothing and styling they like. It’s a great way for a person to build a comprehensive picture of their personality, taste, and their own individual brand… Perhaps also for an organisation like the PF.

So what are we sharing? Well, we love insightful commentary and articles on SE and philanthropy, genius products for society, and great short films. So that’s what we’re pinning. As well as social innovation job postings, volunteer opportunities and a bunch of other stuff.

Like our dabbling with Twitter and other social media, there’s no big strategic plan here. It seems like a good, useful thing to do, so we’ll give it a try for a while and see if you like it and find it useful. And hopefully it’ll also be a good way for people to get to know us at the PF.

See you on Pinterest!

Four statistics:

- The national recidivism rate is 60%.
- It costs an average of $48,000 per year to keep one person incarcerated.
- Hudson Link has a 0% recidivism rate.
- Each year their 46 released graduates stay out of prison New York States saves $2.2M.

Pretty compelling metrics, huh?

Last week we were at BYU for the launch of the Peery Social Entrepreneurship Program. One of the events held was an exclusive screening of a film made by BYU alum Tim Skousen. ‘Zero Percent’ is still an unfinished film so we were not seeing the final cut, but I was already impressed with the subject matter and the masterful way in which is was presented. This is not an area the Peery Foundation works in, but my dad works in a prison and we’ve had many Sunday afternoon conversations about the importance of effective education inside prisons.

The film follows a group of men in Sing Sing maximum security prison taking part in the Hudson Link program. It tells their stories, observes their progress towards achieving their associates/bachelors degrees, and most importantly depicts repentance and redemption. The men and women who take part in the program are transformed and supported to lead more constructive and meaningful lives, through the challenge of higher education.

No agenda for this post. Just wanted to highlight some obviously important work. For more info check out this article from the New York Times. And when “Zero Percent” is finished and gets released put it on your to-watch list. It’s a testament to the power of education as a tool for redemption.