Economy and enterprise: David Morgan
Economy and enterprise: David Morgan
Author
Introduction
47% of ex-offenders commit another crime within one year of being released from prison, and reoffending costs the UK over £18 billion per year. But the likelihood of reoffending can be significantly reduced by helping ex-prisoners to find work.
“My Fellowship has greatly influenced how my organisation seeks to work with the men and women who have been in custody." - David Morgan, Fellow
Social enterprise founder David Morgan (CF 2018) is championing a new model of entrepreneurial support for ex-offenders that harnesses their skills and enables them to earn a legitimate and long-term income. Upon returning from his Fellowship, David worked with his employer, Novus, to restructure the entrepreneurship and self-employment service that they offer to prisoners and ex-offenders. Previously their programmes had focused on the practicalities of setting up a business, but David worked with them to enhance their offering by looking at developing ex-offenders’ entrepreneurial skills and enabling them to recognise their individual talents.
In 2019 David decided to use his experiences to set up Entrepreneurs Unlocked, a social enterprise that supports men and women who are currently in custody or have recently been released into employment, either as an employee, small business owner or self-employed subcontractor. The organisation offers a range of workshops and support so that participants can explore their talent and consider self-employment, such as running their own micro-business or becoming a subcontractor in the construction industry. To date Entrepreneurs Unlocked has helped more than 200 men and women to recognise and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
David previously worked as the national lead for enterprise and self-employment at Novus, a prison education provider in England. While in this role, David saw first-hand the challenges faced by individuals with criminal convictions and discovered that only a few specialist self-employment programmes existed in the UK to support individuals leaving custody. David saw that community entrepreneurship programmes in the USA had exceptionally low rates of re-offending, and decided to visit the USA as part of a Fellowship exploring entrepreneurial opportunities for ex-offenders.
David says, “My Fellowship has greatly influenced how my organisation seeks to work with the men and women who have been in custody. It enabled me to look more holistically at the self-employment pathway, not just practically but also from a more personal and human perspective.”
“My Fellowship has greatly influenced how my organisation seeks to work with the men and women who have been in custody." - David Morgan, Fellow
Social enterprise founder David Morgan (CF 2018) is championing a new model of entrepreneurial support for ex-offenders that harnesses their skills and enables them to earn a legitimate and long-term income. Upon returning from his Fellowship, David worked with his employer, Novus, to restructure the entrepreneurship and self-employment service that they offer to prisoners and ex-offenders. Previously their programmes had focused on the practicalities of setting up a business, but David worked with them to enhance their offering by looking at developing ex-offenders’ entrepreneurial skills and enabling them to recognise their individual talents.
In 2019 David decided to use his experiences to set up Entrepreneurs Unlocked, a social enterprise that supports men and women who are currently in custody or have recently been released into employment, either as an employee, small business owner or self-employed subcontractor. The organisation offers a range of workshops and support so that participants can explore their talent and consider self-employment, such as running their own micro-business or becoming a subcontractor in the construction industry. To date Entrepreneurs Unlocked has helped more than 200 men and women to recognise and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
David previously worked as the national lead for enterprise and self-employment at Novus, a prison education provider in England. While in this role, David saw first-hand the challenges faced by individuals with criminal convictions and discovered that only a few specialist self-employment programmes existed in the UK to support individuals leaving custody. David saw that community entrepreneurship programmes in the USA had exceptionally low rates of re-offending, and decided to visit the USA as part of a Fellowship exploring entrepreneurial opportunities for ex-offenders.
David says, “My Fellowship has greatly influenced how my organisation seeks to work with the men and women who have been in custody. It enabled me to look more holistically at the self-employment pathway, not just practically but also from a more personal and human perspective.”