Mastery Rising

Reducing recidivism by providing personalized career roadmaps for the justice-impacted ecosystem.

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Inspiration

Our inspiration for Mastery Rising comes from a combination of deeply personal lived experience and urgent systemic need.

Co-Founder and CEO Paris Interdonato-Carreras's father was incarcerated before she was born. Through a reentry career development program, he rebuilt his life, earned a master's degree, and became an environmental engineer. Seeing firsthand how structured career guidance can transform a family's trajectory instilled the conviction that career clarity should never be a privilege.

Systemically, reentry support breaks down in the gaps between scheduled appointments. In New York, while overall unemployment is 4.4%, formerly incarcerated unemployment is 27% (and 43.6% for formerly incarcerated women of color). Individuals unable to maintain employment face a 52% recidivism rate, compared to just 16% for those who maintain employment for at least one year. Together with Co-Founder Dina Carreras-Menzie, LMSW—a social worker and executive coach with degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Business School Executive Education—we set out to build technology that bridges the gap between pre-release preparation and long-term economic stability.

What it does

Mastery Rising is an AI-powered workforce technology platform that transforms abstract professional ambitions into personalized, step-by-step career roadmaps.

  • For Justice-Impacted Participants: Users get a tailored roadmap broken down into manageable milestones, subtasks, and action items. The platform is radically device-accessible, running seamlessly across facility tablets pre-release, personal smartphones, library computers, or basic web browsers post-release. It also includes gamified motivation tools (XP, achievements, virtual office customization) and tailored networking prompts.
  • For Reentry Caseworkers & Organizations: A centralized Caseworker Management Dashboard gives staff real-time visibility into client progress between check-ins, collaborative goal-setting tools, and cohort milestone export data to support grant reporting and board metrics.
  • For Support Circles: Participants can optionally invite caseworkers, mentors, or family members to view shared milestones, send encouragement, and celebrate career wins.

How we built it

We engineered Mastery Rising as a lightweight, low-friction web application designed for fast performance on any device, operating system, or connection speed:

  • Tech Stack: Hosted on Vercel, backed by Supabase databases, authenticated via Clerk, managed on GitHub, and powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT APIs for generative roadmap logic.
  • Design & Development Tools: Designed using Envato Elements and built with developer workflows utilizing Claude Code and Jira.
  • Human-Centered Co-Design: Developed through screen-share user testing, DIG (Design Insight Group) focus groups with reentry clients and families, and co-design feedback surveys.

Challenges we ran into

  • The Retention & Engagement Gap: While top-of-funnel awareness was high across social channels and organic search, early analytics revealed that many individual users generated a roadmap once but did not return without structured engagement loops. This pushed us to pivot toward B2B caseworker integration, where staff use the dashboard to maintain accountability between appointments.
  • Facility Hardware & Compliance Restrictions: Prison tablet environments rely on closed networks and strict vendor ecosystems (e.g., Securus). Designing software that can operate within compliance standards (working toward SOC 2) while remaining cross-compatible post-release required careful architectural planning.
  • Variable Digital & Reading Literacy: Simplifying AI-generated guidance so that it avoids dense corporate jargon and remains accessible to users with varying literacy levels or cognitive overload.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Incubated at Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood: Selected for the 2026 Founder Fellowship (Phase 2) cohort.
  • Product Traction & Beta Testing: Launched an active beta platform with ~70 unique production accounts created to date and a 60+ person waitlist.
  • Ecosystem Engagement: Conducted in-person visits, stakeholder interviews, and co-design sessions with leading reentry organizations (such as The Fortune Society and Delphi Rise).
  • Community Reach: Generated over 7,300+ views on Reddit and 2,300+ views on Instagram through educational career content and community outreach.

What we learned

  • Human Connection Should Be Supported, Not Replaced: AI technology is most effective when it fosters participant agency and strengthens human relationships between clients, caseworkers, and families.
  • Job Placement is Only the Beginning: True workforce success in reentry is measured by job quality, skill progression, and long-term retention, rather than initial job placement alone.
  • Workflow Alignment is Essential: B2B reentry tools must directly save caseworkers time, integrate seamlessly into existing session cadences, and automate grant-reporting metrics.

What's next for Mastery Rising

  • B2B Pilot Deployments: Launching 3–6 month pilot partnerships with reentry nonprofits to validate caseworker dashboard workflows and cohort retention metrics.
  • In-Facility & Compliance Expansion: Achieving SOC 2 compliance and building integration partnerships with in-prison technology providers to deliver pre-release career roadmaps on correctional tablets.
  • Grant & Enterprise Revenue: Expanding B2B grant-line-item partnerships and enterprise contracts with workforce development boards and correctional service providers.

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