Josh Smith, Founder and CEO of Fourth Purpose Foundation, is dedicated to making prison a place of transformation. Although now a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, in his early 20s Josh spent five years in federal prison for his involvement in marijuana and cocaine trafficking. Prison changed Josh’s life. At the time of his incarceration, several high-level professionals were incarcerated for various acts of white-collar crime. These professional, educated men introduced Josh to a world he had not yet known through books, education and religion.
After leaving prison, Josh faced many struggles as he tried to assimilate back into society. Through perseverance, Josh ventured out to start a small home-improvement company that grew into an enterprise worth nearly $30 million when he sold it in 2019. From this revenue, Josh and his wife Tracy began the Fourth Purpose Foundation. Josh was then appointed by Governor Bill Lee to serve on Tennessee’s Criminal Justice Reinvestment Task Force. In 2021, Josh received a very rare presidential pardon due to his exceptional life change since being released from prison.
We are pleased to welcome Josh Smith as our April dinner meeting speaker where he will share his life story and expand on the valuable lessons he has learned along the way.
