Refoundry

Refoundry provides formerly incarcerated people with the skills and opportunity to achieve financial independence and become job creators. Refoundry’s replicable model is committed to disrupting the forces that drive mass incarceration and generational poverty. Our programs teach high-level crafts skills, create career pathways, and provide real support for entrepreneurial aspirations. Successful pilots in Los Angeles and New York proved that the Refoundry model significantly reduces levels of unemployment and recidivism among returning citizens. 

Refoundry supports the talents and interests of “Makers” who learn to repurpose discarded materials into extraordinary home furnishings, sell their own products, and start their own businesses. Our programs provide hands-on training in craft skills including woodworking, welding, carpentry, and home furnishings design, and mentoring to support job readiness, business development, and job creation. A part-time, 20-week program features on-ramps to meaningful living-wage employment and serves as a gateway to entrepreneurship for Makers interested in starting their own businesses. Participants receive a stipend throughout the program period and ongoing access to a robust alumni and partner network. 

Refoundry is now preparing to launch a newly-designed and updated program in 6,700sf of workshop space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in NYC. Our first cohort of Makers will begin training in the spring of 2022. Learn more about Refoundry at www.refoundry.org.