Gail Smith

Biography

Gail T. Smith joined the Correctional Association of New York as Director of the Women in Prison Project on February 1, 2016. She previously led Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers, an organization that she founded to provide free legal aid, client education, and public advocacy for incarcerated mothers and their families. She worked with formerly incarcerated mothers to make Illinois the first state in the nation to ban the use of shackles on women during pregnancy, labor, and childbirth. She drafted and advocated for many other bills to benefit incarcerated mothers and their children. The White House named Gail a Champion of Change in 2013. She received the Chicago Foundation for Women’s Impact Award, YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s Racial Justice Award, theChicago Tribune Tempo/Womanaward, and New York University’s Public Interest Law Foundation award. She earned her JD from New York University School of Law and her bachelor’s from Barat College of DePaul University.