2024 Year In Review
Thanks to our community both inside and outside prison walls, 2024 has been incredible for Level. We published three new guides for people in prison and expanded the reach of our prison education program. We couldn’t have done it without you 💪🏽⚡️🚀🙏🏽
Level served 2,200 people in prison in 2024.
This year, we served 2,200 incarcerated learners across the country. In total, Level has served 5,675 incarcerated people at 990 different federal, state and county prisons across the country. And we’ve done that with efficiency – our all-in cost per person served this year was $63. Much of this is due to our community of volunteers as well as our low-cost approach to providing educational resources to people in prison.
We released three new guides this year.
Level released three new guides in 2024 based on what incarcerated learners across the country told us they wanted to learn. How To Start Your Own Business: Thrive In The First Year focuses on entrepreneurship training for people in prison. How The Internet Works focuses on the technology that powers the internet. Computer Science Without A Computer focuses on core foundations of computer science that can be accessed even by those without computers or the internet. These guides were created in collaboration with our content development team including formerly incarcerated educators. To see more details about these guides and learn how you can contribute, scroll to the bottom of the recap.
Level sent 4,440 educational guides and 2,700 certificates directly to people in prison in 2024.
That’s a 20% increase over last year! Each guide we send includes a Completion Form that people in prison send back to us. Along with their answers to the guide’s quiz questions, we receive essential qualitative and quantitative feedback about the effectiveness of our content. And we send back a Certificate Of Achievement that incarcerated learners can show to a parole board as well as their families and peers. Through this process, we also learn about the educational, job training and personal development topics that people in prison across the country want to learn about the most, and we use this information to inform our future guide development.
I cannot thank Level enough for these guides and the knowledge that they contain. All of you all there at Level have given me the opportunity to show the initiative that I am putting into my rehabilitative efforts with each one of these certificates. So, from the four corners of my heart… I say thank you.
– Christopher, in prison in Illinois
We expanded our program to allow families on the outside to enroll their incarcerated loved one in Level.
When we started Level, we only served people from inside prison walls. But families and friends on the outside often contacted us to enroll their loved one on the inside. We made a program to do just that and it’s expanding! Now, families and friends on the outside can easily enroll their loved one in Level and pay a one-time distribution fee to cover printing and shipping and their loved one will start on our program right away. And the best part is that we keep the family on the outside informed about progress through automated text messages each time their loved one gets a certificate or is sent a new guide.
Thank you to the staff at Level for making it possible for my son to learn new skills and continue his education while incarcerated in the Georgia prison system! Level has been a Godsend for him. Amazing, personable customer service that has surpassed our expectations – so pleased with Level! ❤️
– Sonja, parent of person in prison
We couldn’t have done this without you!
Level is a community driven organization, and we could not have achieved these feats without our community of volunteers, donors, contributors, staff and board members. We’d like to thank our funders and partners including Stand Together Foundation, Jobs For The Future (JFF), Sooch Foundation, Next Gen Personal Finance, Q2 and many individuals. Thank you all for supporting the educational needs of people in prison. We can’t wait to see you in 2025.
Please stay in touch – we’d love to hear from you! Text us at (877) 285-3835 or email us at level@learnlevel.org with feedback, ideas, questions or people you think we should contact about furthering our mission.
Thank you!
Details about the guides we published this year:
How To Start Your Own Business: Thrive In The First Year
This guide is the second of a three-part series focused on entrepreneurship training for people in prison and gives solid instruction on how to set up a new business and propel it through the important first year. This guide focuses on the critical fundamentals – startup, budgeting, marketing, accounting, taxes and investing for growth:
- Get set up legally and understand the difference between common business structures
- Learn how to budget for success including the importance of staying aware of cash flow
- Build your business through marketing with a focus on low cost options
- Learn good accounting practices to handle your money with care and keep good records
- Prepare to pay taxes and comply with other legal requirements
- Understand when and how you should expand your business by hiring help and taking on new equipment
How To Start Your Own Business: Thrive In The First Year was just released on December 11, 2024 and hundreds have already been sent to people in prison across the country. We’ll report on the impact metrics as we get them.
I’m working on my business plan to be ready upon release. This guide is clear and asks the right questions that I need to answer to begin my business. I feel more confident as I proceed to venture into new opportunities. I love how clear and precise the information is, and the suggestions really help, too. Thank you.
– Melissa, in a county jail in Texas
How The Internet Works
This guide teaches the fundamental concepts that power the internet including the evolution of the first computer networks, the importance of breaking digital information into small packets and how information is sent from one computer to another. Additionally, this guide provides helpful information about staying safe online and getting a job in the field of internet technology.
- Understand the core concepts of packets, protocols and decentralization
- Learn how modern computer networks evolved from early telephone switchboards
- Begin to explore the four primary “layers” of the internet
- Understand how information can get from one computer to another halfway around the world
How The Internet Works was released on June 20, 2024 with a long waiting list of people in prison asking to receive the guide. 730 guides have already been sent to people in prison across the country! The guide has a Net Promoter Score of 84 (in the “world class” range according to Qualtrics) and has a 4.6 out of 5 ranking for the question “How much – or how little – did you like this guide?”
I learned about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, web servers and browsers and how they work. Very important because I want to go into the technology career field and needed this boost. Since I’ve been in Level, all I have done is learn – it’s easy to retain the information and helps to guide in the direction you want to pursue.
– Cleo, in prison in California
Computer Science Without A Computer
This guide uses innovative strategies to teach the core concepts of computational thinking and computer science without even needing a computer or an internet connection. Learn how computers run on binary numbers, detect and correct common errors and keep information protected.
- Understand the power of computers through binary numbers and binary math
- Learn how computers detect and fix errors through parity bits and check digits
- Explore how public, one-way functions can allow people who don’t trust each other and aren’t even in the same room to agree on the outcome of a coin flip
Computer Science Without A Computer was released on January 16, 2024 with a waiting list. 985 guides have already been sent to people in prison across the country! The guide has a Net Promoter Score of 86 (in the “world class” range according to Qualtrics) and has a 4.35 out of 5 ranking for the question “How much – or how little – did you like this guide?”
This computer science guide was not something I could breeze through. It was challenging, but I have a starting point now. I am eager to move forward. I want to thank Level for providing the information you do. These lessons have truly been key in giving us the tools to start a change in our behaviors and lives..
– Damon, incarcerated in Illinois