Having built The Writing on the Wall into an international, headline-grabbing brand, INN launches it—in a grand-scale effort to both directly empower formerly incarcerated people around the world and impact global culture and policy with regard to incarceration and discriminatory reintegration practices. We are microfinancing dozens of businesses owned and run by formerly incarcerated people in dozens of countries and outfitting their shops in The Writing on the Wall design, creating something that is at once business, art installation and nexus for justice reform and policy change. The businesses will also be supported—in partnership with various INN ally organizations—by a global marketing campaign targeting stigma and reintegration; strategic litigation against discriminatory practices worldwide; corporate outreach around hiring practices; and entrepreneurship and small-business support for incarcerated people and those coming home from prison.

Our first business—a food cart in Bangkok in collaboration with INN partner The Thailand Institute of Justice, run by a formerly incarcerated woman—launched in December, 2021; our second, a restaurant in Prague, opened in June 2022. Businesses are on the way in Kenya, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Jamaica and Trinidad.