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January 17, 2012
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Alberto Vollmer details how “Project Alcatraz” made a difference in Venezuela.
DEUTZ Conference Room, Institute of the Americas

Project Alcatraz is an initiative of the Santa Teresa Foundation, which addresses two of the most severe problems affecting the community -- delinquency and unemployment. Gang members in the Revenga Municipality of Aragua in Venezuela are recruited with the objective of helping them reintegrate into society. For three months, these youths are immersed in a program that includes education, work studies, community service, psychological evaluation and care, labor-intensive jobs – and rugby. While the name comes from Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco, participants of Project Alcatraz face a tougher challenge: escaping from self-imprisonment. Alcatraz gives them the tools and the opportunity to turn their lives around.

A public-private partnership has been established to ensure that the participants of Project Alcatraz have education and training that will offer them the opportunity of economic independence. The project has garnered wide international acclaim for its success and as an example of corporate social responsibility.