| Brian Christopher Poe | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 20, 1969 Maysville, Kentucky |
| Alma mater | Transylvania University |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, Investor |
Brian Christopher Poe (born November 20, 1969) is an American businessman most commonly known for his pioneering of second chance opportunities for American citizens with a criminal record. He is currently the majority shareholder and Chairman of the Board for Corrisoft, LLC.
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Poe was born in Maysville, Kentucky and was reared in Lexington, Kentucky. Poe graduated from Lafayette High School and attended Transylvania University. Prior to attending college, Poe enlisted in the United States Navy and served during the first Gulf War. He was named Sailor of the Year of Civil Engineering and Sailor of the Quarter of COMNAVBASE Norfolk, Virginia. He had aspirations of attending the Naval Academy but was denied due to active duty injuries. After four years of service he was medically processed out of the military with an honorable discharge and recognized as a war time veteran.
Upon realizing that more than 81 million Americans have a criminal record, he wanted to do more to help. He knew there were good people who had made mistakes and paid their dues and that a criminal record was, in effect, a life sentence. Very few places will hire ex-offenders with the exception of Goodwill Industries and some others.
Through extensive research he soon realized that all states provide some type of relief from a criminal record. He also discovered that not only does every state have a different form of relief, but the process and form of relief could vary county by county, within the same state.
Poe spent many years traveling and researching the subject; he spoke to experts and court administrators from Maine to Alaska, and developed an easy-to-use guide to assist people with the process specific to their court jurisdiction.
After posting The Guide to Expungements and Pardons online, many non-profit and legal aid organizations, as well as hundreds of individuals, began contacting Poe for assistance. The surge of requests brought along the birth of EAS Technologies, a division of Deleo Worldwide, and the website http://www.clearmyrecord.com. Poe hired attorneys and software developers to automate the process for each and every county in the United States. Over ten thousand clients have approached EAS Technologies for assistance, far exceeding any other expungement service or law firm. EAS is also the only online expungement service provider to have federal pardons approved by the President of the United States. (EAS does not accept applicants with extremely violent records, crimes against children, or acts of sexual violence.)
In November 2008, EAS Technologies re-launched ClearMYrecord.com with a new automated form filling service. This allows the customer to qualify themselves, determine the form of relief for which they are eligible and then fill out and print the forms from their computer. It was built using the CakePHP framework and was considered so revolutionary that EAS Technologies employees were invited to speak about it at CakeFest, a 3-day event about the framework software.[1]
Due to the incredible demand for expungement services, ClearMYRecord.com has gone to a wholesale strategy by enlisting resellers to take services to a broader reach. With an estimated 25% of the US population burdened with criminal records, millions of individuals may be eligible for these services. ClearMYRecord does not offer legal advice nor positions itself to take the place of an attorney or law firm. It assists ex-offenders in their self-directed efforts to clear the barriers that impede a second chance.
Poe soon realized expunging a record or receiving a pardon was not the final step to fully clearing a criminal record. The courts and the Governor’s offices that grant these approvals do not contact or update the hundreds of commercial and governmental databases that buy and sell criminal records. Thus, even though an individual had a record expunged, it was still publicly available. He became very concerned about these online databases utilized by employers and landlords. Poe realized that much of this data is incorrect or not updated after receipt of an approved order of expungement or pardon (the courts simply cannot contact and ensure that hundreds of databases retain quality data). Poe is also spear heading an effort to enact a Fair Criminal Record Reporting Act on the federal level to ensure citizens rights are protected from the errors and lack of records updating of criminal record data. Currently no oversight agency exists to monitor these database companies.
Through processing thousands of expungement requests it was obvious to Poe that citizens simply had to clear their names to obtain quality employment. To address this need Poe established the organization Hard2Hire.[2] Employers are provided access to a wealth of talent and are also assisted by Hard2Hire in obtaining grants and bonds for the hiring of ex-offenders. Hard2Hire is a free service for job seekers.
Upon leaving the military Poe started a small construction company to help pay for college and his newborn son. He offered laborers and subcontractors to large builders for residential and commercial projects. The success of this company led to Poe being named one of the Top 30 Young Entrepreneurs in the South.
Poe took on investment partners and the company evolved into a general contracting firm designing and building residential developments, hotels, restaurants and commercial structures. Poe eventually sold out to his partners who moved the operation to Indiana.
An avid sports fan, Poe visited many recruiting combines for future collegiate athletes. He began writing about prospects online and soon developed a large following. It was not long before Poe was approached by a large sports internet firm to launch his own website and message boards (bigbluenation.com). Poe was instrumental in the evolution of recruit reporting, being the first to showcase high school and junior high highlights of prospective recruits. Popularity of the website eventually led to radio shows with Clear Channel on weeknights, pre- and post game reports and Sunday morning call in shows. Poe also produced a weekly collegiate and high school highlight television show contracted through ESPN2, Fox Sports South, and local CBS affiliates. Poe then established an apparel manufacturing division and assisted in the opening of retail outlets. While networking with collegiate and prep coaching staffs and other recruiting gurus, Poe developed a close relationship with the football coaching staff at the University of Kentucky. The athletics department was concerned Poe utilized this close relationship to assist the staff in recruiting via his media operations or that the NCAA might see potential violations (the program was on probation at the time). These concerns led to sanctions that crippled the company.
Despite other offers, Poe totally divorced himself from the world of sports and dove deeper into his research of record clearing and providing people a means to a second chance on life.
On December 10, 2008, Poe appeared on Fox Business News[3] discussing the pardoning of white collar criminals. In particular he discussed the differences between a pardon and commutation, along with the cases of Conrad Black, Bernard Ebbers, and Michael Milken. Poe has also been quoted in most major publications, including the Los Angeles Times,[4] Chicago Tribune, New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, Investors Business Daily and many more.
Poe has two sons, Kalin and Jamal (adopted).