Media Room – Jamila T. Davis

From Prison to Entrepreneurship: How This Woman Created a Platform To Elevate Incarcerated Women

Short Bio

Dr. Jamila T. Davis

Dr. Jamila T. Davis is an award-winning author, motivational educator, community
activist and entrepreneur. Featured on the hit shows “Love and Hip Hop” and VH1’s “My
True Crime Story,” the CBS series “Pink Collar,” BET’s “Sister Circle,” Black Enterprise,
Forbes, “The Breakfast Club” with Charlamagne tha God, as well as The New York
Times, USA Today and a myriad other print, digital and broadcast media. She is
currently a Community Practitioner in Residence at Seton Hall University.
From a self-made, multi-millionaire at age 25, her life took a tragic twist. In 2008, she
was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for bank fraud. From behind bars, Davis embarked on an
intense journey of inner healing and restoration. Documenting her findings, she
developed a self-help curriculum designed to empower incarcerated women to heal,
recognize their potential and recapture their dreams. While incarcerated Davis
also received numerous college degrees. Most recently, she gained her Doctor of
Philosophy degree from Newburgh Seminary, researching life coaching as a tool to
dethrone the trauma-to-prison pipeline.
In June 2017, Dr. Jamila T. Davis completed her prison sentence and hit the ground
running! She has led successful programs in schools throughout the country,
community organizations and has even been contracted by several cities, which she
has been recognized nationally. Davis now leads as the founder of the VIP Online
Academy, where she has helped thousands of students to receive trade and
entrepreneurial skills to prepare them for the workforce. Committed to paying her way
forward, Davis’s life motto is: No matter how far you've fallen in life, it's never too late to
recapture your dreams! Through her inspirational message, literary work and activism,
Davis is devoted to making a difference!