Redefining reentry: How Defy Ventures Illinois empowers entrepreneurs with empathy

['Sara Cooper', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] The Chicago Reporter 2025-09-04 17:31:45

“I like romantic comedies,” shouted Melissa O’Dell, Executive Director of Defy Ventures Illinois, the non-profit organization we had come to Logan with. Volunteers (left) and Entrepreneurs in Training (right) are led through an empathy building exercise called “walk the line” by Executive Director of Defy Ventures Illinois, Melissa O’Dell (middle). (Lauren Yoder/Defy Ventures)This exercise, called “Step to the Line,” was part of a full-day workshop for participants of Defy Ventures’ program, CEO of Your New Life (CEO YNL). As is seen across the U.S., the carceral system in Illinois doesn’t do enough to prepare people to succeed after reentry. In Illinois, women’s prisons lack the breadth of educational and re-entry support services available across more than 20 men’s facilities.