Arouet FAIR CHANCE PROFILE: BRANDY SMITH
By Joe Watson | Hey Joe Media
On April 30, 2017, Brandy Smith left the Perryville State Prison complex for women, with a change of clothes, eight felony convictions, and the determination to do everything differently.
“I had one other thing,” Smith says. “The same thing I came out of prison with twice before that: The hope that I would make it this time.”
And this time, her hope was justified. Smith was not the same person that she was during her previous sentences and she developed a plan during this last time in prison. “The first two times inside, I held myself accountable, I really did. But being accountable for your actions and understanding that you are the problem are two different things,” Smith says. “On my third time, I finally figured out that the problem—the common denominator—was me.”
Smith changed her mindset in Perryville, and it impacted her outlook while she spent time there in prison. Six months into her sentence, she saw an opportunity and joined a retention job program. This job gave her confidence that her word meant something again, and helped her to develop and hone skills that she could bring home with her.
Smith also kept herself out of trouble, something she readily admits had been a struggle previously, and she committed to taking advantage of every opportunity presented to her. She was strategic and intentional in surrounding herself with people who would be positive influences in this new life she was creating. “I needed to do everything different, and I wasn’t going to take a chance,” says Smith.
Smith began to see the revolving door of prison—it wasn’t just her that struggled with staying out of the system. She recalls thinking that “somebody has got to do something about this.”
And she realized that she could be that person, helping other incarcerated people make it home—and stay home. She latched onto anything that she thought could help her on this new mission. She got her associates degree, and went through recovery and other non-credit programs.
And when she left Perryville State Prison that day, six years ago, she knew she’d do things drastically differently than she had after her first two sentences ended. Rather than go somewhere she knew, like a family member’s home, she committed herself to a 90-day transitional living program. It was a place where no one could enable Brandy. She explains that this program “gave me the time to process through my emotions.”
Time in prison can impact how people relate to others in their life. “It was good for me at the end of the day to go back to this house by myself and spend that time with myself. I had never given myself that chance before,” says Brandy. “I had time to relearn how to interact with people,” she adds.
New Chapter, New Mindset
Smith was a part of Arouet’s Foundations of Freedom program and assigned a peer mentor, as a requirement of the overall re-entry program. She wasn’t keen on the idea at first.
“Great, now it’s mandatory, I thought,” Smith laughs. “But I had also been telling myself to do whatever it takes to not go back to prison. So, I did it.”
And by July 2018, she had moved on from her experience at Perryville and any chance of going back to prison. It was clearly a new chapter for her, and it showed. “When I met Brandy, I was impressed with her,” says Arouet CEO Alison Rapping. “She has a fire that anyone who talks to her can see.”
While the respect between the two has always been mutual, Smith was dubious that she and Rapping, who had taken over leadership of Arouet a year earlier, could work together. “Alison’s very positive and professional and polished. And immediately I was like, ‘This is not going to work out. We are not the same person,’” Smith says about the first time she met Rapping. “I had one blazer at the time. And so, I had my blazer on, I’m ready for the interview, and she looked over my resume.”
Rapping asked Smith if she had nonprofit or fundraising experience. Smith said, “No.”
“And then I said, ‘But let me tell you what I can do.’ I talked about different skills than what she was looking for. I can operate Salesforce, I can create content, I’m a great facilitator. I can take programming to a new level. I can make it part of the foundation of the new version of Arouet.”
Rapping decided to hire Smith on a 90-day trial basis as Program Coordinator. While Smith was on what she called “a steep learning curve when I first started working for Alison,” Smith says she never doubted the opportunity she had to work well beyond that trial period or to thrive under Rapping’s leadership.
“Alison said to me, ‘You know what, you have heart and talent. I’m gonna give you a chance,’” Smith remembers. “She said, ‘It might not work out, and if it doesn’t, then we’ll part ways and I’ll wish you the best of luck.’
“And I said, ‘Okay, but what happens if it does work?’ And she said, “Well, we’re gonna change the way we do things.’”
“I said to myself, ‘Listen, you said you'd be willing to do whatever it takes to not go back. So, what will you do? What's the next right thing?’”
Brandy Smith
Learning How to Lead
Smith’s experience searching for a job, as someone with a conviction history, is like the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans in the same position looking for “fair chance” employment opportunities. A fair chance is more than simply ignoring someone’s conviction history on a background check. It’s a comprehensive strategy that helps provide justice-impacted people with skills building, access to safe housing and mental health treatment, and the kind of daily peer mentorship Arouet now provides to its participants.
It’s a strategy in which Smith, Rapping, and Arouet are now the recognized leaders.
Both Rapping and Smith attest that Arouet was clearly an organization with a lot of potential for growth in 2017, when Rapping was brought on as CEO and Smith had just been released from prison. But they saw opportunities to improve the curriculum and grow the programming in size and scope to include more people and provide more substantial support.
“Alison took that foundation we had, and now she’s trying to build a skyscraper. She’s a visionary,” Smith says. “What has made the biggest difference with Arouet, I think, is our reentry programming, and that ties into our peer mentorship,” which—at the time—lacked the leadership of someone with lived experience, like Smith.
“When we hired Samantha Garcia Pennell, who is directly-impacted, we hired her to be the mentor and volunteer manager,” Smith says. “So, Alison took yet another chance on someone with felony convictions and no professional polish. And that chance that she took was the catalyst that started the momentum that’s put Arouet where we are today.”
Smith says that the first two times she was released from prison, “it was kind of like Groundhog Day.” She would meet with a community supervision or probation officer after her release and immediately feel a sense of dread, and the need to escape. “And I left, and I went on the run. I literally got in my car, left, and I didn’t come back. And I thought, ‘You can catch me when you catch me,’” Smith says.
The same scenario happened, Smith says, after she was released in 2017 and visited the adult probation office on a work break. As the officer reviewed the terms and conditions of her release, Smith says, she smiled and nodded. She signed a form. She left and got back in her car.
“I had a split second where my brain was like, ‘We’ve been here before. Let’s do what we always do,’” Smith says. “But this time, I said to myself, ‘Listen, you said you’d be willing to do whatever it takes to not go back. So, what will you do? What’s the next right thing?’
“And I went back to work.”
‘Arouet would not be Arouet without her’
Thanks to the leadership of Rapping and Smith, Arouet Foundation hosted its first Fair Chance Symposium in October 2022, to broaden the conversation around fair chance or “second chance” hiring practices and employment.
In December 2022, Smith was promoted by Rapping for a second time, becoming the Director of Programming. Rapping says that Smith’s trajectory is due to her exceptional performance, drive, and her steadfast commitment to the women in the program.
It’s an extraordinary turn of events. Not because Smith wasn’t the perfect person for the job but, Rapping says, “It was something that she had never done before and it can be a difficult sector to work in, especially long term,” Rapping says. “But Brandy didn’t just meet every challenge head on. She has always exceeded my expectations.”
Smith could very well be overseeing all program development in the future, Rapping says, and more importantly, building out Arouet’s strategic program expansion planning. In November, Arouet was selected as one of Bank of America’s 2022-2023 Neighborhood Builders®, “a huge honor for everyone on the team,” Rapping says.
“We selected Brandy as our Emerging Leader, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves this more. I see major growth opportunities for Brandy, and one day—if she wants it,” Rapping adds, “Brandy will be more than qualified for my job. Arouet would not be Arouet without her.”
Changing Lives Through Second Chances
Though she initially feared they were too dissimilar when first meeting, Smith now hopes employers across Arizona will model themselves to be exactly like Rapping. “We want more Alisons, someone to just be like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna give it a shot,’” Smith says. “And because of that one shot, the loyalty I have to Alison, to Arouet? I believe in Arouet. I know we’re making a difference.”
Smith recalls a recent conversation she had with her sister, proclaiming herself to be “a company man now.”
“I said to her, ‘I make decisions now that are for the good of the organization instead of myself, which is a very weird place for me to be,’” Smith says. “It’s very strange. But we’re making a difference at Arouet. And I see people’s lives being changed.
“Our program is about learning to build a new life with a new, better version of yourself. And better is not necessarily polished and shiny,” Smith continues, misty-eyed. “There’s some dents and there’s some dings and there’s some scratches. But people coming out of incarceration that are stabilizing and getting on their feet, those people are survivors. And just like how my loyalty is to Arouet and to people who believe in me, the companies and small businesses who are willing to give someone a fair chance won’t regret it.”
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Very inspiring!
I am so proud to call you my friend
Awesome article sister. You are amazing and so inspiring. God bless you and Arouet for the difference you’re making in the lives of these women.
This godly woman is an inspiration to many in an age that truly needs people like her. To know her& call her a friend is an understatement. Love ya Sis!
Proverbs 16:3
Way to go!