Dolfinette Martin

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. She is frequently asked to contribute her knowledge, expertise, and wisdom to panels and media. Dolfinette serves on the Formerly Incarcerated Transitional Clinic Advisory Board, a clinic created for formerly incarcerated people, where she also has Co-authored a publication titled Healthcare in Louisiana Prisons-Women. She is a panelist on the Criminal Background Check Review Board for the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and an Advocate of safe and affordable housing for people touched by the criminal legal system.

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

Dolfinette is an equal partner in Tulane University’s Newcomb Art Museum’s (Per)Sister exhibition, an exhibition that highlights the stories of 30 formerly and currently incarcerated women and girls. This exhibition received the museum exhibition of the year award by The Louisiana Art Endowment for Humanities. Dolfinette was instrumental in creating the first Women’s Gathering Fellowship for women of color with the Center for Community Change and was one of the first ten cohorts. She also contributed her expertise to help create The Power Coalitions-SheLeads Fellowship which also focuses on women of color doing on-the-ground organizing. Based on her legislative advocacy Governor John Bel Edwards appointed her to sit on the Louisiana Women’s Incarceration Task Force in 2018.