Carmen M. Pitre

President & CEO Sojourner Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Carmen Pitre is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sojourner, Wisconsin’s largest service provider for families dealing with domestic violence. Under Pitre’s leadership, Sojourner provides crisis housing, system advocacy and individual support to thousands of women, children and families.
Pitre draws on decades of work and personal experience to improve the way the community supports families impacted by domestic violence. Pitre believes – and data proves – a holistic approach of co-locating services and coordinating resources is effective, efficient and yields better outcomes for families. In 2016, Pitre rallied key community leaders to create the Sojourner Family Peace Center where people impacted by domestic violence can access emergency shelter, domestic violence services, physical and mental health services, law enforcement and legal assistance, counseling, employment services, financial literacy, community education and professional training – all under one roof.
Pitre was integral in the 2009 merger of Sojourner Truth House and the Task Force on Family Violence when she became Co-Executive Director of the new agency, Sojourner Family Peace Center. Before the merger, Pitre was the Executive Director of the Task Force on Family Violence from 2002 to 2009. Pitre served as the Director of the First Judicial District Judicial Oversight Demonstration Initiative and the Coordinator of the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault from 1997 to 2000.
She chairs the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice Violence Against Women Advisory Committee and is a founding member of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Human Trafficking Sub-Committee. Pitre serves on the Aurora Sinai Community Steering Committee and is a member of Professional Dimensions and TEMPO Milwaukee. She served on the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice Crime Victim Rights Board from 2010-2012, is past-Chair of the City of Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and served on the Medical College of Wisconsin Violence Prevention Initiative Steering Committee from 2008 to 2012.
Under Pitre’s leadership, Sojourner received the Milwaukee Business Journal 2016 Project of the Year Award, the 2015 Milwaukee Business Times Non Profit Excellence Award, and was named Professional Dimensions’s Charity Fund Partner 2015–2017.
Pitre was recognized as a Milwaukee Business Journal Power Broker in 2019, 2018 and 2017 and named BMO Celebrating Women Milwaukee – Women Who Inspire Honoree in 2018. She received the Herb Kohl Champion Award in 2018 and the Donald Driver Foundation Driven to Achieve Award in 2016. Pitre was named Milwaukee Magazine’s Most Influential Person in
2015 and was honored with the Sacajawea Award from Professional Dimensions in 2013. She received the Business Journal Women of Influence Award in 2012.
Pitre graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana – Bachelor of Arts program in 1984.