Dolfinette Martin

Housing Specialist

Dolfinette Martin serves as the housing specialist for Operation Restoration, where she manages all housing programs provided or supported by Operation Restoration.

Dolfinette earned a college degree in 2015 after her release from prison in 2012. She sets a powerful example for her children, grandchildren and her community. As a strong community leader and advocate of safe and affordable housing for people touched by the criminal legal system, she frequently contributes her knowledge, expertise and wisdom to various panel discussions and media broadcasts. Dolfinette serves on the Formerly Incarcerated Transitional Clinic Advisory Board, where she co-authored a publication titled Healthcare in Louisiana Prisons-Women.

Dolfinette was appointed to the transition team for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the first female mayor in New Orleans’ 300-year history, and in 2019, she was appointed to the New Orleans Audubon Zoo Board of Commissioners. She was a founding member and president of the New Orleans chapter’s National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. She is also a past recipient of the John Thompson Leadership for Change Award and The Graduates’ Freedom Fighter Award.

Dolfinette was an equal partner in Tulane University’s Newcomb Art Museum’s (Per)Sister exhibition, which was created to highlight the stories of 30 formerly and currently incarcerated women and girls and went on to receive the Museum Exhibition of the Year Award by the Louisiana Art Endowment for Humanities. Based on her consistent legislative advocacy, Governor John Bel Edwards appointed her to sit on the Louisiana Women’s Incarceration Task Force in 2018.