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Centennial Professorship Award fuels W. P. Carey's support for PATHS program

ASU's partnership with the Televerde Foundation, bolstered by award-winning faculty, empowers incarcerated women through education and professional development.

Molly Loonam

2024-08-21

Each spring the Centennial Professorship Award recognizes ASU faculty members who demonstrate outstanding leadership in and outside the classroom while promoting academic excellence and community service and embeddedness.

"This award was unexpected and means the world to me," says 2024 Centennial Professorship Award recipient and Assistant Teaching Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Kostas Voutsas. "The Centennial Professorship Award highlights community service, which makes it unique. I'm very honored."

Voutsas received the award for his proposal to coach ASU graduate students on designing and presenting professional development webinars to students participating in the PATHS (Prepare, Achieve, and Transform for Health Success) program at Perryville prison. A partnership between ASU and the Televerde Foundation that began in 2023, the PATHS program supports incarcerated women transitioning out of prison by educating them on financial literacy, personal wellness, workplace readiness, and lifelong learning. The program expanded last year to allow students who complete a PATHS course with a C or better the opportunity to earn college credit through ASU's Universal Learner program.

"These programs have been so successful that in nearly five years of partnership, no Televerde Career PATHS graduate has returned to prison," says Julia LaRosa, clinical associate professor of management and entrepreneurship and co-founder of the PATHS program. "This 0% recidivism rate starkly contrasts the expected recidivism rates of 40 to 60%. Televerde graduates also earn 70% more than their felony counterparts and are usually employed within one month of being released from prison."

Voutsas used the award's grant money to compile a focus group of Televerde employees to determine the professional development topics that would be most beneficial to PATHS students. The group determined that courses on time management, negotiations, office etiquette, and conflict management would best assist students in navigating their coursework and preparing for future employment. The webinars were taught live from the ASU Tempe campus by Evening MBA students Flavio Bravo (MBA '25), Ashley Lignoski (BS Finance '16, MBA' 25), Karim Hassan Mohamed (MBA '25), and Sam Hall (MBA '25), and Voutsas says over 80 ASU students applied to be part of the project.

"They did an outstanding job," says Voutsas. "The amount of work they put into these webinars demonstrates their dedication to social responsibility and community service."

The PATHS students who participated in the professional development webinars expressed positive feedback on their experiences, and the recorded webinars will be used to educate future PATHS cohorts.

"Flavio’s presentation on office etiquette was informational and informative. I enjoyed that he took the extra time to provide resources to us," says PATHS student Max Fontes.

"I was fond of the time management workshop because Sam provided many resources that were helpful to me in my current situation. It was admirable and I'm sure it will make a huge difference in my life," says PATHS student Felicia Morgan.

Voutsas began teaching business communications and business fundamentals courses in the PATHS program's fourth cohort two years ago. He says the students' enthusiasm and drive to succeed continues to inspire him.

"Teaching is all about inclusion. That's our mission," he says. "I feel strongly that everybody deserves a second chance. It's rewarding to be a small piece in the puzzle that helps these individuals make a difference in their lives."

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