Michelle Mbekeani, ’14, Talks to the Rustandy Center About her Edwardson Social New Venture Challenge Winning Start Up, Period

Accelerating Justice by Upending Incarceration Communications

“Bigger, you’re part of something way bigger.” Michelle Mbekeani listened to the Beyonce song on repeat as she waited to make her pitch at the finals of the 2023 John Edwardson ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC), the social impact track of the University of Chicago’s nationally ranked New Venture Challenge, jointly hosted by the Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and UChicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

SNVC has helped jump-start more than 150 startups, which collectively raised more than $165 million. Mbekeani, a Neubauer Civic Scholar at Chicago Booth and a senior advisor to the Cook County State’s Attorney, was gearing up to present her venture Period, a startup that uses technology to advance social justice.

Period starts with a simple premise: An innocent person spends an average of 14 years in prison before being exonerated. What if you could reduce that time by making the appeals process more efficient?

Period’s first of its kind digital platform won the $75,000 top prize at the 2023 Edwardson SNVC. The platform holds the potential to significantly speed communications between incarcerated people and the attorneys and advocates who are interested in representing them. Its solution is elegant: Use technology to replace the current archaic system that restricts people in prison to using only physical mail and expensive phone calls to find and communicate with attorneys and advocates.
 

Read more at Chicago Booth