Patrice Smith

SJP Advisory Group Member, Exodus Trainer & Project Manager

Patrice Smith was one of the first women to be released from prison under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. She had been incarcerated since she was 16 years old and was released in September 2020 after serving nearly 22 years in prison. While in prison, Patrice earned her Associate of Arts in Social Sciences and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College. Patrice draws on her experience as a survivor of abuse and as someone who was given a potential life sentence as a teenager in her advocacy for young people, the accessibility of higher education for people in prison, and the successful implementation and application of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.