Entrepreneurs
Congratulations to the Class of 2016!
Read more about Project ReMADE entrepreneurs below.
Class of 2017
Charles R.
Charles T.
Chris
Janeece
Mianta
Michael
Robert
Class of 2016
Nate Williams
Leyon Barner
Bang Khong
Tony Orozco
James “Hawk” Lowden
Class of 2015
Brian Sparkes grew up and still lives in the South Bay. He has experience facilitating gang intervention programs and speaking on college campuses, including at Stanford. A driven person, he is working to establish a center that will provide coaching, outreach, and consulting around character development.
October 5th, 2016: “Brian Sparkes, Project ReMADE Class of 2015, is settling in well at his new college home of UC Davis where he is majoring in Communications. Go Aggies!” See this on Facebook
Jose Bernal, a native San Franciscan, has always enjoyed writing and has relied on it during difficult times. He worked for two years as a cadet with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and now works with homeless populations in the area. He is interested in developing a business that will publish work by writers whose voices are unrepresented in mainstream publishing.
October 28th, 2016: “Congratulations to Jose Bernal, Project ReMADE Class of 2015, and James “Hawk” Lowden, Class of 2016, for being appointed to the San Francisco Reentry Council. We’re so proud of you both!” See this on Facebook
Joseph Miles works at Project Rebound at San Francisco State University, where he is also an undergraduate student. An entrepreneur who has successfully launched two businesses overseas, he is exploring the viability of converting recycled shipping containers into housing for low-income people. Learn more about innovative Home Concepts.
August 29th, 2016: “Joseph Miles, ReMADE Class of 2015, is featured in this article about the fantastic work he does to support formerly incarcerated people get enrolled and succeed in college through Project Rebound at San Francisco State University.” Read more
Londale Walton is a college student at San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco. He also works as a Peer Mentor at Extended Opportunities Programs and Services on the CCSF campus, where he helps others attain their educational goals. His dream is to operate a community arts center where artists can produce and display their work. An artist himself, he values the inspiration and productivity that result from collaborative creative space.
July 20th, 2016: “Our graduates are our very best recruiters of potential entrepreneurs. Thanks to Dale, Jose, Willard and Brian – all graduates of the Class of 2015 – for speaking today in San Francisco about your reentry journeys, business ventures, and impressions of Project ReMADE.” See this on Facebook
Willard Birts hails from a family of entrepreneurs. As a young man, he worked as a street vendor selling hot dogs in downtown Palo Alto. His goal is to start an auto-detailing business, and he looks forward to having his daughter, a Stanford School of Education graduate, join him at his ReMADE completion ceremony.
July 20th, 2016: “Our graduates are our very best recruiters of potential entrepreneurs. Thanks to Dale, Jose, Willard and Brian – all graduates of the Class of 2015 – for speaking today in San Francisco about your reentry journeys, business ventures, and impressions of Project ReMADE.” See this on Facebook
Class of 2014
Jamaal Pratt
Founder, Jamaal’s Bean Pies
Jamaal Pratt has been working as a small vendor of bean pies, hats, and oil essences at various events in the Bay Area for the past several years. He is a connoisseur and outspoken promoter of the Bay Area bean pie (made with navy beans, tastes like pumpkin pie and is high in protein) and thinks that it could attain more mainstream interest with the right marketing. Jamaal’s business idea is to expand operations for his sales, including the possibility of opening a small stall or food truck in his hometown of Vallejo.
Kevin M. Williams
Co-Founder, A-Team Moving Company
www.movinghelp.com/ATMC, 408-914-0607
After graduating from Project ReMADE’s class of 2014, Kevin Williams founded A-Team Moving Company, a labor services company based in Milpitas, CA. Under Kevin’s leadership, A-Team Moving has grown quickly and now provides professional moving and cleaning services throughout the Peninsula and San Francisco Bay Area.
Kevin is also passionate about music, especially gospel and inspirational song. Through Project ReMADE, Kevin developed a company/brand that provides marketing, promotion, and management services for inspirational music acts, utilizing his knowledge of music, social talents, connections, and technology to bring lesser-known artists to the wider stage in the Bay Area.
Laura Mendoza
Founder, Wampum Remedies
Laura is the founder and CEO of Wampum Traditional Remedies. She has an M.S. in cell and molecular biology, with 14 years of work experience in molecular biology labs. Laura is of Chiricahua Apache descent, and with much of her family lineage still living in New Mexico, she is closely connected to many of the traditions of her medicine people.
To create Wampum Traditional Remedies, Laura combined traditional medicinal knowledge with her plant molecular background to develop herbal products that provide natural relief for a variety of ailments. Her products include Wampum Rub for pain relief and Itchy Balm for dry, itchy skin. She is currently working to develop three additional products, which include a face mask, cold sore remedy, and foot spray.
Rudy Howell
Founder, RH Federal Criminal Justice Consulting
Rudy is a student at San Francisco State University working towards his B.A. in criminal justice, while working part-time as a personal trainer and intern at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Based on his extensive experience in various levels of prison, Rudy’s business idea is to offer consulting services to those entering prison (e.g., to white collar convicts soon serving time) on how to survive incarceration.
Ted Stanton
Founder, Good Karma
Ted Stanton is a veteran who lives in San Francisco.
After graduating from a six-month culinary arts program, Ted devoted several months to perfecting his own recipes, before launching his business to produce, market, and sell his chocolates and caramels.
Recently, Ted has expanded his product offerings to include a line of handmade bath products, including soaps, bath salts, lotions, sachets, soy wax candles, and his unique bath teas. Consistent with his philosophy of healing the mind, body, and spirit, Ted uses no artificial dyes or fragrances in his products; instead, he incorporates only natural colors and fragrances through essential oils and fresh ingredients.
Prior to joining Project ReMADE, Ted was a massage therapist. In further growing his company, Ted plans to leverage this prior experience as a custom service provider, as well as his education. Ted holds a B.A. in Psychology and has pursued graduate coursework.
November 17th 2016: “Ted Stanton, owner of 4 your Mind, Body, and Spirit and Project ReMADE Class of 2014, will be selling his beautiful and fragrant organic soap, lotions, body butter, body scrubs and sachets at the Jingle Fest taking place at the Santa Clara Convention Center this coming Saturday (10 am-4 pm) and Sunday (10 am-6 pm). Come out and support one of our entrepreneurs and get some holiday shopping done too!” See this on Facebook
Tyrone Mullins
Co-Founder, Green Streets (San Francisco, CA)
Tyrone Mullins has been recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change for his work with “Green Streets,” a community-owned recycling business that he co-founded. The organization has progressively grown to sign several contracts with San Francisco, Oakland, and Richmond, while adding facets to the business model.
Tyrone has emerged as a leader, and his business goal is to improve the back-end of the initiative—because while there are successes, the organization’s future depends on developing skilled management to guide the organization towards a fully independent, sustainable model.
May 27th, 2016: “Congratulations to Tyrone Mullins, Project ReMADE Class of 2014, and the team of Greenstreets, a social enterprise providing recycling services in low income housing neighborhoods, on celebrating its sixth anniversary last night. Keep up the awesome work!” See this on Facebook
April 5th, 2016: “For all the frustrations tech startups have unleashed on the Bay Area, they’ve also instilled a sense that the calcified structures of the past don’t necessarily need to be around tomorrow. Tyrone Mullins (Project ReMADE Class of 2014) brought that Silicon Valley ethic to the Western Addition projects. He deserves credit for his own powerful disruption: not just finding a new way to sort trash and manage its pickup, but for an entirely new vision of labor for those the tech world’s prosperity is leaving behind.” Read more
Class of 2013
Alicia Canu
Alicia Canu currently works as a customer service representative for a financing company but she would like to create a transitional housing program for women and children in San Mateo County. She is the mother of two small children and understands the need for a comprehensive solution that helps both parents and their children. Alicia has more than seven years of experience managing transitional houses and providing counseling and case management services for people transitioning into and out of prisons and rehabilitation centers.
Malik Wade
Malik Wade was a member of the ReMADE class of 2013, where he developed the Scholastic Interest Group (“SIG”), an organization he co-founded. SIG’s mission is to help young men in low-income communities reach their full potential. SIG mentors student athletes from underserved communities and offers personal development and athletic programs.
Mr. Wade also been a youth advocate at San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center, a guest Lecturer at UC Berkeley, a volunteer and a mentor for the Junior 49ers youth football program in San Francisco and a case manager for the African American Art and Culture Complex Youth Development program. One of his most prominent achievements was his entry into the Daly City Hall of Fame on April 5, 2007. In 2007, he was also inducted into the Daly City Hall of Fame, after being nominated by State Senator Leland Yee for exemplary community service.
July 7th, 2016: “Congratulations to Malik Wade, Class of 2012 and founder of Scholastic Interest Group, on achieving non-profit status for his organization that fosters leadership development among youth in the Bay Area. Scholastic Interest Group official registered and trademarked 501 c 3. A dream deferred finally came true 16 years in the making…” See this on Facebook
March 21st, 2016: “Check out the great work Malik Wade, Project ReMADE Class of 2013, is doing with young men in San Francisco with his organization SIG – Scholastic Interest Group” See this on Facebook
February 2nd, 2016: “Our entrepreneurs had last Sunday off from class and met with their mentor teams for the first time. Meanwhile, Project ReMADE graduate Malik Wade met with several volunteers to discuss his business.” See this on Facebook
Macio Lyons
After returning home from a prison sentence, Macio Lyons worked a case manager to low-income, pregnant and parenting teens at a large non-profit organization based in San Francisco. He also worked tirelessly as an advocate for fair employment, economic opportunities, fair housing policies, and education for the residents of his impoverished community. He believes the only way to break down the barriers of poverty and employment discrimination is to become an own employer of yourself and others. This philosophy inspired him to launch Lyons Transportation and Logistics Corp., a trucking- and street-sweeping company that services multi-billion-dollar building projects now underway in the City of San Francisco.
You can learn more about Macio’s work at Kiva Zip, where he launched a successful micro-lending campaign while working with Project ReMADE.
Rene Ontiveros
Rene Ontiveros is a Mission District Native of San Francisco through his experience with poverty, violence, and incarceration it has enriched his life to defy the odds and not become another existing statistic–but a living Statistic empowering himself and his community. Rene believes to break barriers, “education is the key to understanding racial disparities, and a conscious community is vital to systematic change.”
As a City College student and last year Chair of the YA BASTA student organization, the daily motto he fostered was “Education is Activism”. Being a father, brought determination to be a Youth Commissioner last year, his devotion and chartered task was to identify the unmet needs of the children and youth of San Francisco and advise the Mayor and Board of Supervisors on policy recommendations, and also to urge city departments to meet the needs of this disadvantaged population.
Currently, He is undergoing a fellowship at the Transitional Age Youth San Francisco Initiative (TAYSF), where he conducts Youth-participatory action based research and uses the qualitative data to inform City departments serving TAY (16-24 year olds). Rene’s drive is from God, his family and loving daughter, and all of his many peers, friends, mentors, and loved one’s who have passed away, or incarcerated.
Class of 2012
Chloe Turner
Founder, Two Lips by the Bay
Chloe balances two jobs as the Women Rising Case Manager at Community Works and Medical Respite Worker at the Department of Health Medical Respite and Sobering Center while studying Organizational Behavior and Leadership at University of San Francisco. She returned home from prison four years ago, and is working on a clothing and accessory line geared towards the queer community.
June Lee
Founder, Leo Designs SF
June returned home from prison after serving a lengthy sentence nearly six years ago. She is enrolled at San Francisco City College where she is majoring in Business. She works at the Center for Young Women’s Development and as a studio assistant for a faculty member who teaches metal arts. She makes things with her hands – jewelry, purses, furniture – and dreams of opening her own store one day.
Mahnani Clay
Mahnani’s Domestic Detailing
Mahnani has several business ideas, including re-starting the cleaning and domestic support service she launched on the East Coast before going to jail – Home Sweet Home Household Services. She is proud to wear multiple hats under the employ of Community Works West. She is a Case Manager at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Women’s Resource Center and works for the Restorative Community Conferencing program. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration.
Mary Campbell
Workwellness, Inc.
An energetic, vibrant and positive woman, Mary has been out of prison for five years and desires to be an inspirational speaker or a professional meeting planner. She served on the San Francisco Reentry Council for two years, leads a Self-Empowerment Group at the San Francisco County Jail, and is employed as an Executive Assistant at a local technology company.