Today on the podcast we have David Israel and Spencer Oberg, two successful entrepreneurs who both served time in prison. You might know them by their international vegan cheese company, Good Planet Foods, or by their justice-centric media company, Unincarcerated.

In this episode we certainly go into David and Spence's incredible backstories. But more, we leqarn the nuts and bolts of how to be entrepreneurial and succeed after prison, the hard work it takes, how to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, and how to get past your shame to find your passion and authenticity.

So, coming up, The Entrepreneurs. David Israel and Spencer Oberg. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us.  - Jeff

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Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. The ministry hosts an online White Collar Support Group every Monday night on Zoom; we will hold our 250th meeting on Mar. 29, 2021. After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry — earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Social Ethics.

Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 18+ years), ministry, public speaking and corporate training. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide individuals, families and organizations forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame. Not a prison coach; not a prison consultant.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) 
Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide
Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast
Host, White Collar Week
Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798
Website: prisonist.org
Email: jgrant@prisonist.org
Office: 203-405-6249
Donations (501c3): http://bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ
Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jeff-grant-woodbury-ct/731344
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revjeffgrant
not a prison coach, not a prison consultant

David Israel & Spencer Oberg, The Entrepreneurs, Ep. 29 White Collar Week with Jeff Grant

Today on the podcast we have Barry Bekkedam. This is Barry's first interview since returning from Federal prison last year.

What I like most about Barry was his openness and candor as he painstakingly takes us through his remarkable story from immigrant, to starter on the Villanova basketball team (he's 6'10" tall!), to real estate investor, to multi-billion dollar Main Line investment manager - and then to his problems when some of his clients lost money in the Rothstein Ponzi scheme and then as former Chairman of a bank accused of TARP fraud.

Barry took his case to trial and was partially vindicated, but ultimately was sentenced to serve 11 months in a Federal prison camp. Barry's is an incredible story of resilience through a decade of issues.

So, coming up, Barry Bekkedam sets the record straight. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us.  - Jeff

Barry Bekkedam Sets the Record Staight, White Collar Week Podcast Ep. 30

Welcome to White Collar Week, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet.  Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.

So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) 
Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide
Host, White Collar Week
Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798
Website: prisonist.org
Email: jgrant@prisonist.org

Office: 203-405-6249
Donations (501c3): http://bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jeff-grant-woodbury-ct/731344

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revjeffgrant

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Thank you for listening to White Collar Week.

Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast if you loved it – it helps others suffering in silence find us if they need us!

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Web: https://prisonist.org/white-collar-week


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Email us! info@prisonist.org

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Credits:

Host: Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.

Audio Engineering: George Antonios: https://georgeantonios.com

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