Innovation

Brian Hill and EDOVO developed an education platform for the inmates inside prisons and jails. Typically, inmates spend the day watching television shows like, “The Price is Right” and “Jerry Springer.” EDOVO intended to design educational television programming for inmates to watch. However, it was too hard to convince the incarcerated individuals to watch something educational and for them all to agree on something. This is when EDOVO decided to switch to the tablet platform. EDOVO developed some of their own content and curated content from other sources to offer inmates a wide array of educational content. Rehabilitation, counseling, and parenting content is also available. The content inspires inmates, enhances goal setting, and gives inmates the ability to make more choices. The incarcerated individuals earn points by completing activities. Points can be used to play games, listen to music, or watch videos. Inmates rent the tablets from the commissary for less than $2 a day. More and more content is being added to the tablet platform. EDOVO’s tablet platform is extremely scaleable to all jails and prisons. It allows for inmates to be more productive while they are incarcerated and helps motivate inmates to develop useful skills to be utilized when they get out. Brian Hill plans to offer the content to recently released individuals so they can continue learning with the content.

Inspiration

Brian Hill, the founder and CEO, grew up in an environment where his father spent a significant time in prison, but not in the sense in which you are thinking. Brian’s father was a psychology and college success teacher who dedicated his life to educating those who within the prison system.

Brian was so passionate about this idea that he ended up dropping out of college to pursue education solutions for incarcerated individuals, because in his own words, “If I walked away from this problem, no one would do anything.” With this assumed burden it became his responsibility to spur positive change, which ultimately led to EDOVO’s creation.

Nowadays the inspiration continues to grow stronger with every success story EDOVO produces. An unnamed inmate from Arkansas shared this story - “I’ve been in prison my whole life and I get out in 6 months. And recently my granddaughter has been asking me to read her bedtime stories. I’ve been in and out my whole life, but this time, I want to stay at home so I can do that. But I also don’t know how to read, so I’m going to spend every waking hour here learning how to read.”

Giving those a true purpose, providing a way out, and fixing the system is what motivates Brian Hill to continue developing EDOVO.

Overall impact

EDOVO is having a large impact on the US prison system. Although some statistical data is not readily available quite yet, the overall impact can be seen through how fast the company has been growing. Their reach is expanding to at least one site, or jail/prison, per week and they plan on expanding to three to four a week by the summer of 2017. Currently, EDOVO operates in 12 states, but in the next few months already has plans to expand to 24 more. Education Over Obstacles plans on accomplishing three goals: decreasing prison spending by half, reducing the number of incarcerated individuals, and decreasing recidivism.

Currently, 75 percent of individuals at a site where EDOVO is incorporated are using it on a weekly basis with an average of two lessons completed per day. By spending time on educating themselves, it is ultimately leading to better behavioral management within the prison system.

Business benefit

EDOVO’s primarily addresses the quality education UN goal for sustainable development. This innovation has a positive business benefit through improving inmate decision-making skills and education, which improves their ability to succeed in the workforce. EDOVO also has a scalable business model that is currently in 12 states and is expanding to 36 over the next few months. The company has proven growth and has averaged entering a new facility each week.

Awards and recognition in 2015 include:

• One of the 50 most innovative companies in Chicago and the designation of a technology company that is changing the world.
• Won the Tap the Future, Notre Dame Zielsdorf, and Points of Light startup competitions. Were semi-finalists in the Microsoft Small Business competition.
• Presented at industry conferences around the country, and introduced the unique educational platform to correctional leaders from Florida to Nevada.
• Spoke at numerous technology and criminal justice events, including the Social Capital Markets Conference, Data & Civil Rights Conference, and the IJIS Corrections Tech Forum.

Social and environmental benefit

EDOVO recently received a platinum rating, the highest achievable, by the Global Impact Investing Rating System. This transparent, verified rating methodology recognizes business models that are designed to solve social problems, which in EDOVO’s case is tackling recidivism.

Brian Hill wants the United States to question two social assumptions. The first, “There is an assumption that locking people up improves public safety. Locking people up often times and most of the time actually decreases public safety and it has caused some of the problems we see today such as police brutality. The frustration and the mistrust is on the back of decades of an unjust criminal justice system and one that did not help, but ultimately hurt communities. And the second, “We are taking self-identified poor decision makers and we are putting them in an environment where they make no decisions. The average person on the outside makes thirty-five thousand decisions a day. The average inmate makes six thousand decisions a day. Coupled with the fact that they interact with other poor decision makers inherently creates one of the worst solutions we could come up with. There is a need to create an environment where they can make positive decisions in a safe environment and learn. This should be the goal.”

Brian is leading the social charge for positive change and it is our responsibility to spread the word.

Interview

Brian Hill, Founder & CEO