The Interfaith Center of New York was honored to welcome Jeff Smith of The New School as Plenary Speaker at the 31st Marshall Meyer Retreat “Coming Home: Faith Communities Supporting Successful Re-entry,” held on November. 4.
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Jeff Smith is Assistant Professor of Politics and Advocacy at Milano. Jeff, who has also taught at Washington University and Dartmouth College, teaches and researches political campaigns, urban political economy, policy advocacy, and the legislative process. At Washington University, he received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Jeff served in the Missouri Senate from 2006-2009, representing St. Louis City, where he co-founded a group of charter schools called the Confluence Academies. In addition to the memoir Mr. Smith Goes to Prison, Jeff has written two previous books: Trading Places, on U.S. partisan realignment from 1975-2004, and Ferguson in Black and White, an historical analysis of the roots of Ferguson, Missouri’s unrest.
Jeff frequently appears on MSNBC and has been profiled by NPR’s This American Life, Harper’s, The New Republic, and other periodicals. He addresses audiences of public officials on ethics in politics, and his TED talk on prison entrepreneurship has been viewed over a million times. His op-eds have been published by The New York Times, The New Republic, CNN.com, The Atlantic, Inc., National Journal, Salon,Politico Magazine, New York Magazine, Buzzfeed, and the Chicago Tribune. The film Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, which was short-listed for an Academy Award, chronicled his youth-powered grass-roots congressional campaign. Jeff, who currently serves on the national advisory boards of several organizations working to reform American prisons, graduated from the University of North Carolina with degrees in African-American Studies and Political Science, and from Washington University with M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science.
About the Rabbi Marshall Meyer Retreat
Held bi-annually since 1998, the conference is a professional development and capacity building opportunity for religious leaders, allowing faith leaders to learn about social issues, create networks for mutual support, and meet civic leaders and service providers. The conference is named after Rabbi Marshall Meyer, who was a religious leader actively engaged in social justice projects and building partnerships with other faith communities.
This year’s conference addressed the challenges men and women face upon their release from prison and offered a space for faith, government and community leaders to learn more about new and innovative programs to support formerly incarcerated individuals on their journey to re-entry and reintegration.
For more info on the retreat see https://interfaithcenter.org/archives/9638.
[Due to an unplanned change at the venue, the beginning of Mr. Smith’s talk was not filmed. We do include the powerful question and answer segment that followed his talk.]
