Defy Ventures is a United States-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by Catherine Hoke (née Rohr's).
The organization's goal is to address the social problems of mass incarceration, recidivism, and related issues by providing training programs to individuals with criminal histories, with the aim of improving their well-being, encouraging entrepreneurship, facilitating employment, and promoting personal development.
[1] Defy Ventures was founded in October 2010 in New York City, with a plan to build a replicable model that would work in urban communities in the U.S.[1] In January 2012, it launched its pilot group of entrepreneurs-in-training (EITs).
The organization currently offers programming through both chapters and independent affiliates (under license) in California, Colorado, Washington State, New York, Connecticut, and Illinois.
Defy offers prison-based and community-based entrepreneurship, personal development and career readiness programming.