REIMAGINING REENTRY SO IT FEELS LIKE A WARM HUG

The Hustler Files with Lisa Reilly - Stories That Challenge What You Thought You Knew

Launching a social entrepreneurial venture is no easy task, and for Founder, President, and CEO of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute it was not an overnight success. Brandon conceived the EDWINS concept in 2004, with a three-fold mission: teach a skilled and in-demand trade in the culinary arts, empower willing minds through a passion for hospitality management, and prepare students for a successful transition home. The students who participate in this mission are all justice involved looking for a new life back in the community. But Rome wasn't built in a day, and it took another three years for Brandon, a formally trained chef and sommelier, to build out the social enterprise model and then another four years before Brandon could launch the Culinary Club classes at the Grafton Correctional Institution. Brandon opened EDWINS restaurant in 2013 and here in 2024 EDWINS has a French Restaurant, Butcher Shop, Bakery, and a Second Chance Life Skills Center which itself is a campus with housing, childcare, library, fitness center, computer lab and more! 600+ have graduated from the EDWINS culinary programs and can boast that only 1% of students have recidivated. Like Brandon says, when asked, how he accomplished so much, his response, "just knock down one problem at a time".