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District 3

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District 3

Robinson

Patrice J. Robinson

Councilwoman Patrice Jordan Robinson was elected to the Memphis City Council in November 2015 as the Memphis City Council District 3 representative. In 2020, she guided the Council through the COVID-19 pandemic as the Memphis City Council Chairwoman. Aside from her year of serving as Chairwoman, from 2016 to the present, Robinson has chaired the Memphis City Council Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW) Committee. She also serves as the council’s liaison for the MLGW Board of Commissioners and the Shelby County Aging Commission of the Mid-South.  

Before being elected, Robinson served on the Memphis City/Shelby County Schools Board of Education for 13 years, holding the title of board President in 2004 and 2007. Under her leadership in 2007, 127 schools were in “Good Standing”, the most significant number of Memphis City Schools in good standing in the history of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As a Board member, she distinguished herself by chairing the Policy, Personnel, Audit, and Capital Improvements Committees. As a result of her efforts, Robinson earned the designation of Master School Boardsman in Tennessee. 

Patrice J. Robinson earned a Master of Science in Technological and Adult Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations from Memphis State University. 

Robinson has 30-plus years of professional experience in Human Resources, Training and Development, Counseling, Job Development, and Grant Writing. Robinson is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). She retired as a Supervisor of Assessment & Development at Memphis Light Gas and Water Division. 

In May 2006, she graduated from Leadership Memphis, and in 2010, she graduated from the Memphis Leadership Academy. She has served on the Boards of Directors of Jobs for Stars, Memphis in May, Women in Business, and Hands Across Memphis, Inc. She was the Education Chair of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and has served as Chair in 2011 for the  

Tennessee Legislative Network, Tennessee School Board Association.  Robinson is the former President of the Valleywood Homeowners Association and former correspondence secretary for the Memphis (TN) Chapter, The Links, Inc. A faithful member of Faith Temple Ministries C.O.G.I.C. since 1983, Patrice Robinson has served as their Director of the Women’s Ministry, Sunday School Teacher, The President (and current member) of Pastor’s Support Group and has managed and operated their bookstore for ten years. She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and the American Society for Training and Development. Currently, Robinson is a Silver Lifetime member of the NAACP Memphis Chapter and a member of the National Council of Negro Women. Also, she is a current board member for First 8 Memphis, Leadership Memphis, Faith Temple Ministries C.O.G.I.C., and Paula Ratchford Ministries.  

In 1975, Councilwoman Robinson made the life-changing decision to become a woman of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. In 2013, her 38 year-mark, Robinson was awarded the Myrtle-Tyler Faithful Award for being the longest-active member of the Resplendent Rho Gamma Chapter. In 2005, she successfully chaired the Blue Revue Annual Fundraiser. Her passion for sisterhood and growth has allowed her to share her knowledge with her sorority sisters as the keynote speaker at the Psi Sigma Zeta Chapter Founder’s Day Program 2021. Robinson is a member of the Alpha Eta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, and in 2021 was a keynote speaker at her chapter’s Joint Founder’s Day Program. Patrice has been an avid supporter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.  

 Of Patrice Robinson’s many awards, a few she received are Spirit Magazine’s 50 Over 50 Award, the 2019 recipient of Memphis’ Most Powerful by the Memphis Business Journal Bronze Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women 2019 Public Policy Award, National League of Cities 2018 Distinguished Service Award, Tennessee National Black Caucus Teamsters Trailblazer Award 2016, the National Foundation of Women Legislators’ Woman of Excellence Award, Jimmy Delnoah Williams Outstanding Friends to Education Award on behalf of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, The Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis 2004 Tribute Luncheon, and the Melhorn Trailblazer Award for Exceptional Community Service. Most recently, Robinson was honored for her persistent efforts by participating in the 2023 unveiling of the Georgette and Cato Johnson YMCA in Whitehaven as a speaker and the Aquatics Center was named in honor of her and her husband, Jackie Robinson (member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.) 

During her time on the Council, Robinson co-sponsored the Pre-K Resolution in Memphis, worked to re-establish the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation (GWERC), initiated the MLGW Share the Pennies Initiative, and created the Weatherization Task Force. More of her efforts include giving over $1.5 million to nonprofit organizations in the City of Memphis, $500,000 to the Habitat for Humanity Senior Weatherization Program and $250,000 to the MLGW Share the Pennies Initiative. In addition, Robinson personally helped to raise over $4 million out of the $10 million needed to rebuild the new Davis YMCA. Her desire for a safer Memphis has led her to secure Crime Prevention Grants for constituents, place over 50 cameras in District 3, and serve on the Advisory Board of the Hickory Hill Juvenile Project. Continuing her love of educating others, Councilwoman Patrice Robinson keeps her constituency up to date on community information and efforts in her quarterly newsletters while hosting community meetings from Whitehaven to South-East Memphis to ensure that all constituents have more access to knowledge and get the best out of their community.    

Map of District 3