Prison Break: The Last Mile's Chris and Beverly Share a Blueprint for Change, Born at San Quentin, Scaling Nationwide
In this episode of Breaking Precedent, host Leah Solivan sits down with Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti, co-founders of The Last Mile, a groundbreaking prison education program that’s transforming lives behind bars through coding, entrepreneurship, and purpose. From venture capital success stories in Silicon Valley to walking the yards of San Quentin and Indiana State Prisons, Chris and Beverly share their radical journey into social innovation. They explore how tech education is breaking generational cycles of incarceration, lowering recidivism rates, and redefining second chances. Chris and Beverly share some deeply moving stories of transformation, including a woman who declined early release to finish the program, and a man who was once cellmates with his father.
Guest Bio and Links:
Chris Redlitz is a venture capitalist and former endurance athlete who co-founded The Last Mile after a pivotal visit to San Quentin prison. With a background in growing companies like Reebok and launching digital ventures, he now channels his entrepreneurial experience into transforming prison education.
Beverly Parenti is a veteran tech entrepreneur and innovator who co-founded The Last Mile to empower incarcerated individuals, particularly women, with marketable skills. As the first-generation daughter of Holocaust survivors, Beverly's life has been profoundly shaped by her father's experiences during World War II. Her father's story of survival became a guiding light in her life, instilling in her the values of resourcefulness, resilience, and relentless perseverance.
Learn more about The Last Mile at their website
Connect with Chris Redlitz on LinkedIn @ChrisRedlitz, and on X @ChrisRedlitz
Connect with Beverly Parenti on LinkedIn @BeverlyParenti and on X @thebev
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:45) Leah introduces guests, Chris and Beverly to Breaking Precident
(2:10) Icebreaker - moments that changed everything
(4:30) Beverly's journey - from retail to PayPal
(7:00) Chris’s journey from sailing to Silicon Valley
(10:00) The birth of The Last Mile
(15:00) ”What my father taught me was to be resourceful, to be resilient and relentless. and to this day, those three Rs are not only part of my mo, but also things that I teach others.” - Beverly Parenti
(21:30) First steps - building trust in San Quentin
(26:00) The business case for prison reform
(28:00) Impact and success - reducing recidivism
(31:30) Expansion and new programs
(35:00) Culture shift - from infractions to aspirations
(38:00) Rigorous application process
(43:00) Stories of transformation - Billie and Darnell
(44:30) Generational change through scholarships
(46:30) Scaling and adapting the program nationwide
(52:00) Social enterprises and equity for graduates
(56:00) What they’ve unlearned
(1:00:00) Reflections and tuture goals
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Leah Solivan is the host of Breaking Precedent, a podcast that explores the stories of innovators who are pushing societal boundaries and setting new precedents in their fields. Leah is General Partner at Fuel Capital, where she invests in early-stage companies across consumer technology, hardware, education, marketplaces, and retail. Leah has 15 years of experience building and creating technology products that have reached millions of people around the globe. She started her career at IBM as an engineer in the software group, working on Lotus Notes and Domino. In 2008, Leah founded TaskRabbit, the leading on-demand service marketplace in the world.
Connect with Leah:
Website: breakingprecedent.com/
Instagram: @labunleashed
