JoAnne Page

Page has over 40 years experience in criminal justice, with the last 29 of those years at the helm of The Fortune Society. Under Page’s stewardship, The Fortune Society has been recognized by researchers and policy makers as a national leader in criminal justice advocacy and as a pioneer in assisting former prisoners to reintegrate into society. The organization offers more than a dozen programs including mental health and substance abuse treatment, counseling, family services, HIV/AIDS health services, employment services, and housing. These innovative and successful initiatives have become models for similar programs across the country. Page is especially proud of the housing programs that she has developed. This includes the opening of the groundbreaking Fortune Academy in 2002, the nationally recognized transitional residence housing men and women released from incarceration into homelessness. With the Academy, Page took an abandoned drug den and eyesore to the community and turned it into a place of hope and understanding. In 2010, Fortune opened Castle Gardens, a green, mixed affordable and supportive permanent housing development with 114 apartments and 20,000 square feet of service space, that has been certified LEED Gold. Fortune’s housing model is currently being replicated in Syracuse, NY at NYS request.

Page has served as a member of advisory groups including the Mayor’s Supportive Housing Task Force; NYS Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration; NYC Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System, NYC Young Men’s Initiative Advisory Board and the Commissioner’s HRA Citizens Advisory Committee. A graduate of Yale Law School, Page is a frequent speaker at conferences and presentations about alternatives to incarceration, HIV/AIDS, housing, and criminal justice issues. She has also been a featured interview guest on such national television programs as CNN, Court TV, NBC News, The News Hour and The O’Reilly Factor.