Chris Redlitz is one of the board members of The Last Mile a program created to break cycle of incarceration. Redlitz created Code.7370 curriculum which gives prisoners access to the booming IT industry by teaching them how to code.

Chris Redlitz is teaching prisoners how to code because he knows how difficult it is for newly-released inmates to find steady work. The unemployment rate for ex-cons after one year out of prison reaches up to 75% (“Ex-cons Face Tough Path Back into Work Force.” Msnbc.com. 2009). The program’s goal is to give prisoners a truly marketable skill, thus giving ex-convicts a great opportunity to get a decent job, and therefore reducing their likelihood of returning to prison. His course graduates have received jobs as software engineers – one graduate even founded a coding school in his hometown of Houston, Texas.

Redlitz’s curriculum is already being used in San Quentin, California, and is expanding to five more California prisons. The computer technology job market is predicted to grow at a rate of 20% by the year 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – and Redlitz is giving prisoners the tools they need seize the opportunity (Fastest Growing Occupations: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).