Jerry Pender
Jerry Pender Jr. is the Research Director for the Women’s Institute of Science, Equity, and Race (WISER) a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute that strives to expand women-focused policy research to include the social, economic, cultural, and political well-being of Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous American and Multiracial women. He is also a social justice advocate having formed the non-profit, The Jordan Reentry Cooperative (TJRC), which seeks to help transition formerly incarcerated individuals back into communities with sustainable plans for the future.
At WISER, Jerry is a logistics expert who analyzes data to improve processes for programs that impact disenfranchised communities. He uses his expertise in logistics and business intelligence to recommend policy improvements for childcare, prison transition programs, and veteran transition programs. He leads webinars focusing on changing the narrative around the childcare, prison reentry, and veteran transition landscapes and is also a monthly contributor to WISER’s newsletter, WISER Wednesdays.
Since joining WISER in the summer of 2021, Jerry has furthered the institute’s efforts to illuminate the importance of disaggregating data, highlighting the adverse effects of using aggregated data for children 0 to 5 years old to find solutions for a childcare industry structured to provide separate care for children in different age groups.
As a certified Georgia Department of Corrections Volunteer Associate, he works with GED students at a local prison to prepare for their exams. His mission to help “returning citizens” transition from prison back to the community led him to establish TJRC as he feels that men and women leaving prison face tough challenges and that everyone deserves a second chance. Pender is planning to devoting more time to TJRC in the near future.
A consistent theme throughout Jerry’s career has been his commitment to serving others.
In addition to his work with WISER and TJRC, Jerry has volunteered to help organize political campaigns, served four years as a Supply Officer in the United States Navy, and is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in the childcare industry.
Jerry also serves as a Visiting Professor in the Business Administration and Economics Department at Morehouse College, where he teaches Principles of Macroeconomics and Basic Statistics. In addition to leading class lectures, he uses his professional experiences and knowledge of conducting impactful research to mentor his students in preparing for life after college and the benefits of attending graduate school.
Jerry holds an M.A. in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Georgia College and State University as well as a B.A. in Economics from the University of Florida. His areas of expertise include:
- Childcare Structure and Labor Market
- Military Veteran Transition Programs
- Prison Re-entry Programs
- STEM Minority Mentoring Programs
- The Gift of Affordable Housing November 29, 2023 - In two days, we will enter the last month of 2023. Every year seems to go by even faster than the year before. Although this year has certainly brought its struggles, I want to focus during this time of giving on the progress we are making in our communities on the issue of affordable housing. There are stories from New ...
- Federal Female Incarceration Trends 2000 – 2021 April 25, 2023 - Introduction In part one and two of this series we examined the federal arrest and sentencing trends from 2000 to 2021. We found that arrest trends were more volatile during the period than sentencing trends. In addition, the federal arrest and sentencing data showed that not only did race and ethnicity play a role in some of the nuances we ...
- Female Federal Arrests and Booking Trends 2000 – 2021 April 24, 2023 - Introduction This study examines changes in arrest rates for women from 2000 to 2021, thereby capturing changes during the Great Recession, recovery, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to identify changes in arrest rates for women that may reveal racial disparities, thereby providing support for criminal justice reform that leads to more equitable outcomes. We utilized data ...
- Female Federal Sentencing Trends 2000 – 2021 April 24, 2023 - Introduction Criminal sentencing is complex. For example, an officer has discretion about who gets a speeding ticket; prosecutors have discretion about what charges are brought, and judges often have latitude on sentencing outcomes. How bias operates at each stage is an artifact of sentencing data. This study extends our analysis of the experiences of females with the federal criminal system ...
- Female Federal Arrests and Booking Trends 2000 – 2021 January 20, 2023 - Introduction This study examines changes in arrest rates for women from 2000-2021, which captures changes during the Great Recession, recovery, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We seek to identify changes in arrest rates for women that may reveal disparities by race, thereby providing support for criminal justice reform that leads to more equitable outcomes. We utilize data from ...
- Home For The Holidays December 14, 2022 - On December 8th, a little over two weeks before Christmas, Brittney Griner returned home from her detainment in Russia. After 10 long months, she is finally back with her friends and family. However, what should have been an overall joyous occasion has been somewhat marred by controversy on whether the US paid too high of a price for her release. As a ...
- Another Chance: Changing The Narrative October 12, 2022 - Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 2022 Palm Beach County Reentry Summit held in West Palm Beach, FL. The conference was terrific, and the people in attendance were even better. Since joining this community and starting my nonprofit, I have met wonderful people doing great work helping returned citizens adjust to coming home from prison. There were ...
- Ban-the-Box: A View from the Labor and Housing Markets September 14, 2022 - More and more citizens in our country are permanently losing the ability to fulfill some of their basic needs. These are individuals with past criminal histories. Historically, men have made up the bulk of the prison population, but research indicates that the number of incarcerated women increased from 26,378 in 1980 to 222,455 in 2019.[1] This fact alone may not ...
- Ban the Box September 14, 2022 - One of the most important benefits of ban-the-box on rental applications would be to increase the odds of obtaining public housing, which is more affordable than private rental units. For renters, many affordable housing programs such as Section 8 public housing or Section 41 housing projects will deny applications based on criminal background. Without access to these programs, many ex-offenders ...
- The WNBA’s Missing Star July 7, 2022 - The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star Game will be missing one of its biggest stars, Brittney Griner. A seven-time All-Star, Griner was detained by Russian authorities in February for having vape cartridges containing marijuana concentrate hashish oil, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in a penal colony. Griner, like many WNBA players, travels abroad in the offseason ...
