Marvin Pierre
Founder, Eight Million Stories
Young people, especially young men of color, are disappearing—from schools, communities, and the workforce. Fueled by zero tolerance policies and in-school policing, the school-to-prison pipeline is sweeping disproportionately high numbers of youth into the criminal justice system. Led by Marvin Pierre, Eight Million Stories aims to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in the city of Houston, TX through a holistic educational program for disconnected youth between the ages of 16-18. Eight Million Stories provides disconnected youth who have been pushed out of our school system with an opportunity to complete their education and obtain meaningful employment, in order to drastically reduce the recidivism rates of justice-involved youth in the city of Houston. The success of this program will assist school districts in finding alternative pathways for students who are not succeeding in traditional school settings.