Lucretia Doyle (CC) is living proof that society’s expectations of you should never dictate what you choose to become. The daughter of a formerly incarcerated mother, she overcame the obstacles she faced at a young age and became passionate about empowering youth and adults with the knowledge that they are capable of doing extraordinary things despite their backgrounds. She has over 20 years of experience in management, case management, youth development and nonprofits. Lucretia also has extensive experience working with youth from low-income communities; youth in foster care; youth with an incarcerated parent; youth struggling with substance abuse; and youth in juvenile court and detention centers.

In 2016, Lucretia created her own foundation in honor of her mother, the Patricia Ann Doyle Foundations (PAD Foundations), to provide book and summer camp scholarships to youth with an incarcerated parent. She has given a total of 12 scholarships with care packages since launching.

Lucretia graduated from Herzing University in Atlanta with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and an emphasis in Management. She received her MBA from American Intercontinental University in Dunwoody, GA. In her free time, Lucretia enjoys volunteering, playing kickball, mentoring, music, spending time with her family and traveling.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lucretia Doyle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lucretia, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?

My business idea for the Patricia Ann Doyle Foundation was a thought process to give back to the youth in the community through education. I wanted to honor my mother and I decided to provide scholarships to youth who were like me with an incarcerated parent currently or formerly.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I have a background in criminal justice and social services work, and am currently employed with The Bail Project as a Client Advocate. The Bail Project is a national nonprofit that provides free bail assistance and pretrial support to thousands of low-income people every year while advancing policy change at the local, state, and national levels. It is on a mission to combat mass incarceration by eliminating reliance on cash bail and demonstrating that a more humane, equitable, and effective pretrial system is possible. Ultimately, The Bail Project seeks to restore the presumption of innocence, reunite families, and gather evidence for change.

Criminal justice hits close to home for me. I first encountered the system when I supported my mother after she was incarcerated – through family visitation, phone calls, and writing letters – when I was nine years old.

I asked if the current system is now just the systemic lock-up of poor people.

The cash bail system creates a two-tiered approach to justice: one for those who have enough money to pay for their freedom, and another for those who do not. This is why we are on a mission to take money out of the justice system.

We do so through our National Revolving Door Fund. In practice, it works like this: we post bail for our clients, and when they return to court, their bail money comes back into our revolving bail fund, allowing us to help even more people. We’ve supported over 29,000 so far. I receive referrals from public defenders in DeKalb and Fulton counties.

The Bail Project goes further than posting bail for people in need so that they can return to their communities – including their housing, jobs, and families. We use our Community Release with Support model, providing our clients court notifications and free transportation to court. The Bail Project also helps their clients navigate voluntary supportive services like substance use recovery and housing based on their needs. The result is that our clients return to over 91% of their court dates even though they have no money on the line.

For more information on The Bail Project www.bailproject.org.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Week itinerary

Sunday is for church. I play for two ministries currently and they will go with me to both locations.

Monday: breakfast at the house, maybe brunch at Just Brunch restaurant, view some movies on one of my streaming apps and the gym.

Tuesday: gym, lunch at Thai restaurant Doc Chey, dinner at Longhorn and will shadow with me to my podcast studio for an hour.

Wednesday: Chateau Elan gets a facial and massage.

Thursday: Chateau Elan enjoying the winery, doing some shopping and eating.

Friday: rest for the day, enjoy, cook meals at my house and have a great night to enjoy live music at City Winery or St James Live dinner served at both places.

Saturday: grab breakfast to go at Starbucks, rehearsal Saturday morning from 9am-10:30am, brunch at Ria Bluebird restaurant, catch a matinee movie, take a walk to the park and go back to my house to prepare for Sunday morning worship services.

I work out at Anytime Fitness and I can bring a guest for $5 extra Sunday-Thursday 7pm-8:30pm.

Tuesday evening 7pm-8pm my podcast show

I really don’t hang out much but if I have a guest, we will have a great time.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Special shoutout to GOD without him none of this would be possible. I’m grateful for my grandparents the late Elder William and Corrine Doyle for my upbringing and for raising me to be the young lady I am today. They took my siblings and I to their home when my mother was away in prison for five years. I appreciate them dearly and honored them. Last but not least, I would like to thank my mentor Sandra Kay Barnhill, JD – she was very instrumental in my life since the age of 9. She has helped me personally and professionally. I thank her for her hard love and kindness to me. She really helped me to be the woman I am today. My number one sponsor is Mr. Henry Herzing – he is the founder of Herzing University, the school I attended as an undergraduate to receive my Associate and Bachelor degree. He has helped my nonprofit in many ways by supporting every fundraiser we had since I started PAD in 2016. Thank you for your support throughout the years.


Website: www.bailproject.org

Instagram: padfoundation2016

Linkedin: Lucretia T. Doyle, MBA

Twitter: LucretiaTDoyle1

Facebook: padfoundation2016

Youtube: Church Scene Musician Podcast

Other: I have my own podcast show, please go like, share and subscribe.

Image Credits
Mrs. Lucretia T. Doyle, MBA

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