Goodie Nation announced today that eleven mold-breaking digital marketing campaigns aimed at ending the school-to-prison pipeline will launch at their marquee event Goodie Innovation Weekend: Big Game x Big Impact, held January 26-27 at Google’s headquarters in Atlanta. Supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation, Goodie Innovation Weekend concludes Goodie Digital: Disrupting The School-To-Prison Pipeline, a three-month program that has been training and supporting select teams from across the country in the launching of digital marketing campaigns that raise awareness about how issues like lack of trauma informed care, teacher absenteeism, learning disabilities, financial literacy, bullying, and reading deficiencies drive students, particularly those of color, into the criminal justice system.

According to the ACLU, black students are suspended and expelled 3 times more than white students. And students expelled for a discretionary violation are nearly 3 times more likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice system the following year. Additionally, black students represent 31% of school-related arrests while only representing 16% of all public school enrollment.

“This is an incredible opportunity to work with some of the most talented and passionate teams across the country focused on the School-To-Prison Pipeline, and bring attention to this underrated issue,” says Mario Suffren, Hack The Violence initiative Cohort Manager of Goodie Nation. “It also aligns perfectly with a few issues the NFL’s new Inspire Change initiative is addressing like education, and criminal justice reform.”

In this immersive and intense 36-hour event, teams race against the clock to create a campaign that has the potential to reach 10 million people within a year by designing logos and websites, generating social media strategies, and developing continuous engagement tools with the help of volunteer social media and design mentors. On Sunday afternoon, teams present their final solutions to an audience of education and criminal justice industry experts, professionals, media and others.

For more information Goodie Innovation Weekend including how to serve as a mentor or attend the final presentations, visit www.goodienation.org/bigimpact