Our Team
Problems
Mass incarceration is out of control.
The statistics are overwhelming. Our country has 4% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prison population1. Sadly, 50% of those formerly incarcerated end up back in prison within 5 years of leaving2. 2.3 million people are currently incarcerated, and several million more are on parole or probation, stigmatized and branded by their past3. In 2008, when the national unemployment rate was at 5%, the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated individuals was 27%4. The discrimination that these individuals experience as they try to re-enter society and gain employment is a complex problem in need of a solution.
Solutions
Building amazing windows & doors is a solution.
Our co-founders, Scott & Maria Gates, John Engelstad, and Andrew Darr have spent most of their professional careers in the fenestration industry. When the team began to educate themselves on the issues around mass incarceration, they felt compelled to be part of the solution. They dreamed about engineering state-of-the-art window & door products that would be renowned for their design solutions, size capabilities, and minimal frames. But more importantly, they wanted to build a company that would build these amazing products primarily out of an employment base of formerly incarcerated individuals.
Discover the meaning behind our logo
HOVER OVER DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE LOGO
The upper triangle is designed to visually represent the upward mobility, ascension, and freedom that is available to formerly incarcerated individuals via hard work and a meaningful career. Customers that buy products from Awake are helping change lives and lift people up and out of poverty and the imprisonment of their past. Together we will help give a meaningful second chance to those that need it most. This isn’t a hand out, it’s a hand up.
The five vertical lines are a visual representation of the prison bars that mass incarceration has left our society locked behind. It’s not just the 2.3 million people in prison, it’s also the broader society that feels trapped on how to solve the complex problem. We chose five bars for the logo, because five is the number often associated with humanity (5 fingers, 5 senses, etc.) We believe a good job is a pathway to freedom for these vulnerable humans.
The definition of Awake is simple – it means to stop sleeping, or wake from sleep. For too long, we were asleep on the issue of mass incarceration. We also believe it’s the state that many window and door companies find themselves in, asleep to solutions that their customers desperately need. At our company, we are committed to staying awake and creating innovative solutions to complex problems, be it in windows, doors, or society as a whole.
Our core team of management and engineers has extensive experience in leading companies and designing products for the window & door industry. After listening and collaborating with some of the best architects and dealers in the country, we created an entirely new family of products directly in line with the needs of the market. These are the right products, at the right time, and most importantly, they are going to create jobs for those that need it most.
It is by design that Awake was created as a company, and not a non-profit. While our social mission to combat mass incarceration and reduce recidivism is at the very heart of everything we do, we very intentionally chose to help solve this problem via a capitalistic business in lieu of a charity based non-profit. We believe that sustainability comes from working hard, creating solutions, and building products people love, not asking for donations.