Episode Details

Meet Jeremy Bouman, Founder of RISE in Omaha 👋. Today, RISE operates in seven Nebraska prisons with a 90% graduate employment rate and a recidivism rate a third of the state average. And Jeremy has spent the last decade building a leadership team, a sabbatical policy, and a succession plan designed to outlast him.

In this episode, he breaks down exactly how, including the internal leadership academy, the innovation program open to every employee, and their newly approved sabbatical policy.

Plus: the story of a man serving a life sentence who donated $500 so someone else could take the same program that changed his life. 🩵

Tune in to hear:

• What the "Inside Out" model actually looks like, and why starting the relationship inside prison, years before release, is the thing that makes everything else work
• RISE’s human-centered internal policies, leadership academy, and innovation project + the impact on their team 

Episode Highlights:

• Meet Jeremy Bouman (00:38)
• The Inside Out model: building trust before release (09:05)
• 70% system-impacted staff and why lived experience leads (09:05)
• Founder-proofing: humility, culture, and getting out of the way (14:10)
• The sabbatical policy and what happened when Jeremy took five weeks off (16:29)
• Succession planning: Rise Leadership Academy and Rise Innovation Project (21:14)
• Two generosity stories that say everything about this mission (27:29)
• One good thing: visit a prison, practice second chance hiring (29:57)

Episode Show Notes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/699

//

Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com

Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter