Breakthrough to
a Better Tomorrow
We believe in humans and our shared humanity. A person is more than their past—and we can redefine our futures for the better. Change doesn’t just happen; it’s made. Through compassion, connection, and community, we empower individuals who have been incarcerated to embrace new possibilities and realize their true potential. Because old limitations and outdated perceptions are meant to be challenged.
Join us as we break through to a better tomorrow.
Reforming Society’s
Response to Incarceration
Watch this TEDx talk, as our Executive Director challenges society’s perceptions of people with criminal histories and asks us to all take part in being the solution to mass incarceration.
Equipping Individuals for
Successful Reintegration
Breakthrough’s returned citizens have a recidivism rate that is well below the state and national average. Of those who have returned home, the vast majority have enrolled in post-release services and are typically employed at a rate that exceeds the national average. Read More »
Building Connections
Across Communities
To grow our community, volunteers donate their time in prison with us to provide business and entrepreneurial mentorship and coaching while learning to be more accepting and open-minded business leaders. Read More »
Break the Cycle
There are more than 15,000 people currently incarcerated in Colorado prisons. Of the approximately 9,000 people released from Colorado prisons every year, around 54% return to prison within three years, with many citing barriers to employment as a significant reason. As incarceration rates increase, unemployment increases, and recidivism rates increase. Join us as we work to put a stop to this cycle. Breakthrough graduates remain free at a rate of 94%!
Be the Solution
Visit prison with us and get to know our participants as a mentor or coach. Assist the in-class learning process by providing feedback, encouragement, and real-life experience. People can succeed with a network of inclusive, optimistic, responsible individuals. You can be one of those people. Join us as we build a dependable community of trust, awareness, and belonging where all are worthy of humanity.
Raise the Bar
Participate in our Fair Opportunity Hiring initiative. We match employers looking for quality employees with our people re-entering society and provide them with the necessary tools to work together successfully. Help us raise the bar and encourage your employers to take the Fair Opportunity Pledge. Together we can reduce recidivism rates, increase financial security for people rejoining society, and contribute to Colorado’s economy.
Our People’s Path
We walk alongside our participants from the inside out through our four program offerings: The Challenge, The Transformation, The Return, and The Exemplar. Our people’s journey with Breakthrough and our first program offering, The Challenge, begins inside prisons. The Challenge is a 32-week (8-month) program in which participants alter their lives and mindsets in difficult and vulnerable ways that enhance each individual’s Job Readiness, Character Development, Reentry Planning, and the Entrepreneurial Mindset.
“It’s a transformative process…it’s about making a difference in strangers’ lives–the transformation happens on both sides.”
Johnny, Volunteer and Donor
“Your impact on me has touched my present endeavors in a new way… I believe my participation with [Breakthrough] has greatly enhanced my cognitive alertness and has prepared me to be ready for this learning environment…”
FRED, GRADUATE
“[Breakthrough] defies the odds, defies the traditional way of looking at rehabilitation and creates its own energy, its own hurricane of possibility.”
SENATOR JOHN HICKENLOOPER