If I was part of a major criminal cartel and making tons of cash, I might have a hard time giving that up to silkscreen. Or to bake. Well, no I love baking, if someone paid me to bake I’d be there in heartbeat……..

Anyway, thats what an entrepreneur in LA has done. He has convinced thousands of gang members to give up on the crime world and join Homeboy Industries. They have Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy Bakery, Homegirl Cafe and others. This 5 million dollar nonprofit emphasizes rehabilitation over revenue and thus uses most of the funds for mental therapy for former gang members, housing assistance, job development counseling and tattoo removal treatments.

The entrepreneur, Rev. Gregory Boyle, is concerned with turning gang members into part of a viable workforce and encouraging them to start start their own businesses. He has even gone so far at times to ignore efficiency products like automatic dough mixers because kneading by hand requires more hands and thus employs more people!

The Homeboy organization is attempting to develop the brand further and believes it has a base to do so. Father Boyle found an interesting demographic of society to work with for his venture and has made a successful business over the past two decades. The ability to look outside the box while also being so conscious of one’s surrounding has lead to a potent business venture. I wonder what that possibility holds for you? Can you think of a new way to improve your society while becoming financially successful? I bet there is a way- after all crime just doesn’t pay………

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am and is filed under Innovators, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.