Donyatta Tinson-Smith was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls then she received a full academic scholarship to Morgan State University. While growing up and attending Freedom Theatre she became extremely intrigued by the work of Jawanza Kunjufu.  As a result, her major at Morgan was Psychology and her goals were to, “change the state of urban education,” and to, “help create educational environments for African-American males to thrive.”  While at Morgan she held several leadership positions such as Senior Class President and the President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.  After graduating from Morgan, she received the Future Faculty Fellowship from Temple University to pursue her Doctorate in School Psychology. 

While studying at Temple, Donyatta was asked to volunteer at World Communication Charter School to help enroll students.  That day of volunteering led to 7 years of employment.  During those 7 years Donyatta served as a Mathematics Teacher, Testing Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist.