A Day at San Quentin
A team of technologists spent a day with The Last Mile, a tech incubator turning inmates into coders.
I took the ferry that morning from the Embarcadero to Larkspur. I didn’t realize how close we actually were to San Quentin until the ferry passed right next to the prison.
I arrived in Larkspur and met with the other people from our technology team before entering — we were all a bit nervous. Once there together, we waited a few minutes for our host Beverly, the co-founder of The Last Mile, to guide us in our entry to the prison. Michael, our SVP of Technology and Innovation, and I went first. On our way in, we passed two main gates. At each of them we had to show identification. We were told that if we didn’t mark our exit on the way out, guards would come to look for us thinking we were taken hostages inside. That was our first word of advice.
Beverly explained to us how The Last Mile was created. Her husband came a few years ago to give a speech about business and entrepreneurship. He was so impressed by the level of knowledge and desire to learn, that he immediately started thinking about the idea of creating a tech accelerator inside the prison.
“The Last Mile (TLM) was created to provide programs that result in successful reentry and reduce recidivism. TLM began as an intensive 6-month entrepreneurship program at San Quentin, in which men learned how to tap into their passion to create a business that includes a technology component and social cause. At Demo Day in front of 350 invited guests from the business community and fellow inmates, they pitch their ideas. Many say it’s the best day of their life.”
Once we passed the second gate, we were officially inside the prison gates.
On one side of us were chapels of different religions. On the other side, death row. We were walking the line between heaven and hell, as they called it. We walked a few more meters through a hallway, and passed a baseball field, a basketball court, and the backyard where inmates were walking around and training. One more heavy door. We got a glimpse of cool things that inmates have built — furniture and chairs of great quality, manufactured inside the prison. Who knew? We walked through one more hallway to the door with The Last Mile logo. Finally.
Once inside, we saw a hardware server that was about to be installed — the first ever for exclusive use by inmates inside a prison. On the left was the classroom, on the right the server room, and in the back, a small stage with a whiteboard prepared for our arrival. We were introduced to a few inmates who quickly started showing us their projects. I was surprised by the level of excitement they had. Some of them were working for real clients!
Beverly made the call and everyone sat down. She introduced us and our digital design firm. Michael started talking about the work we do, and how we organize our teams. Then, it was my turn. I talked about my role as a mobile developer and asked if any of them had mobile projects in mind. They shared some ideas, and soon we were having full conversations. I was so glad to hear them using technical terms, and referencing the many things they’ve learned there. Some of them have never seen an iPhone or an iPad, yet they spoke like any other professional in our industry. And the way they spoke to us was so respectful, that we easily forgot where we were for a moment. I never imagined it to be that way.
At the end of our day, some of the inmates approached me with different technical questions. One asked me about virtual reality. He mentioned having read a lot about it in magazines. That made me wonder just how amazing it would be for them to experience a mix of virtual reality with Google Street View — something that could make them feel the outside world somehow.
I left San Quentin with a great joy; it was such a profound experience for me. I hope to visit again in the near future and even experience a real class with them. And I invite anyone working in tech to give it a try — it’s absolutely worth it.
For more information about working with The Last Mile, please visit: http://thelastmile.org
Carlos Marcano is an iOS Developer at Level, a purpose-driven digital design firm. This is the first in a series of posts about using tech to give back. Stay tuned for the next, where we talk about the challenge in commitment to service — particularly, when inmates from The Last Mile ask to be hired.
