Tyra Patterson - Empowerment Fellow in Development

On Christmas Day in 2017, Tyra walked out of prison after serving 23 YEARS for crimes she didn’t commit. She soon after reclaimed her narrative as an exoneree and became a dynamic speaker, advocate and thought leader for injustice.

Today Tyra lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and travels all over the country speaking at law schools, colleges, prisons, conferences, high schools and more to educate people on injustice, mass incarceration and wrongful convictions. She works at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center and leads their Community Outreach efforts in addition to maintaining paralegal and fundraising duties. Her work and story have been highlighted in numerous major media outlets including CNN, ABC News, Rolling Stone and Essence.

Tyra is heavily involved in the art scene of Cincinnati where one of her biggest joys is advocating for hiring and creating pathways to entrepreneurship for artists directly impacted by incarceration. She was awarded an Honorary Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Just Media, ArtWorks Cincinnati and Black Art Speaks. She was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Art Academy of Cincinnati.