Pivot Program

The Georgetown University Pivot Program is a custom certificate in business and entrepreneurship, designed specifically for individuals returning to the community from incarceration. The program’s goal is to allow these individuals to access career and professional opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach, while also changing the perception of individuals with a prior conviction. Housed within the McDonough Custom Executive Education team and supported by Georgetown Entrepreneurship and the Prisons and Justice Initiative, the program combines classroom training in business, entrepreneurship, and leadership with subsidized internships at local businesses and nonprofits. Throughout the program, Pivot Fellows receive a weekly stipend, funded by a grant from the D.C. Department of Employment Services.

The entrepreneurial mindset is deeply embedded within the Pivot curriculum. Whether or not a fellow is ready to pursue a venture opportunity of their own, each Pivot Fellow goes through the process of identifying a problem or opportunity, understanding how to create value for a user or stakeholder, and identifying a potential business model. Those with the most advanced ideas are eligible to present at the Pivot Pitch Competition, a highlight of the program year. Ultimately we see Pivot Program graduates as agents of change within the community, fulfilling their personal career ambitions and creating opportunities for others through business enterprises of their own.

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employment partners

Employers who have embraced our mission and have supported Pivot graduates include the Charles County Department of Health, Deloitte, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Farmers Restaurant Group, the Justice Policy Initiative, LINK Strategic Partners, the Vera Institute of Justice, as well as many other businesses and nonprofits.

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GRADUATES FROM COHORTS 1, 2, 3

100% 83% 70%

of graduates said the program helped them advance their career goals of graduates would be “very likely” to recommend the Pivot Program to others of the most recent cohort graduated with offers of permanent employment