699. How to Build a Mission That Outlasts You - Jeremy Bouman, RISE
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Meet Jeremy Bouman, Founder and CEO of RISE in Omaha 👋. Today RISE operates in seven Nebraska prisons with a 90% graduate employment rate and a recidivism rate a third of the state average. And Jeremy has spent the last decade building a leadership team, a sabbatical policy, and a succession plan designed to outlast him.
In this episode, he breaks down exactly how, including the internal leadership academy, the innovation program open to every employee, and what actually happened when he finally took five weeks off.
Plus: the story of a man serving a life sentence who donated $500 so someone else could take the same program that changed his life. 🩵
In this episode, you'll hear:
What the "Inside Out" model actually looks like, and why starting the relationship inside prison, years before release, is the thing that makes everything else work
RISE’s human-centered internal policies, leadership academy, and innovation project + the impact on their team
“Impact starts in the small moments of you just sharing what you’re trying to do and trusting that the right person is going to be sitting next to you.”
Episode Transcript
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Episode Highlights:
Meet Jeremy Bouman (00:38)
The Inside Out model: building trust before release (09:05)
70% system-impacted staff and why lived experience leads (09:05)
Founder-proofing: humility, culture, and getting out of the way (14:10)
The sabbatical policy and what happened when Jeremy took five weeks off (16:29)
Succession planning: RISE Leadership Academy and Rise Innovation Project (21:14)
Two generosity stories that say everything about this mission (27:29)
One good thing: visit a prison, practice second chance hiring (29:57)
Powerful Quotes:
"This isn't about me, guys. I care deeply about what our mission is, and I want this to sustain long after I'm gone." -Jeremy
"People with the best solutions are closest to the problems, and those are the voices we need to raise up." -Jeremy
"If you care about your mission deeply enough, set it up and get it ready for life beyond you." -Jeremy
"We have to create breathing room for people to restore and return to the work and be able to continue to give it everything they have." -Jeremy
"Some of the most entrepreneurial people we have in our state are in our prison system, because they've had to build that resilience from a young age." -Jeremy
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