Robert Jones

Director of Community Outreach

Orleans Public Defenders Office

A New Orleans native and 2017 exonerated for serving more than 23 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. Since being freed and cleared of all charges, Mr. Jones has become a renowned community activist, serial entrepreneur, published author, and co‐founder of Free‐Dem Foundations, Inc., a nonprofit organization that mentors and guides youth in a positive direction. Mr. Jones currently serves as the Director of Community Outreach/ Lead Organizer for the Orleans Public Defenders. He also sits on several boards and committees such as the Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), Unanimous Jury Coalition committee, New Orleans City Council Advisory Committee, Advisory Board for the Center for Racial Justice at Dillard University, and the New Orleans Community Advisory Group for the MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Initiative.

Mr. Jones is the recipient of the 2023 Fellows of American Bar Foundation Award, 2022 Southern University Annual Civil Rights and Social Justice Award, 2019 New Orleans Martinet Legal Society’s Earl Amdee Award for a non-lawyer advancing justice in New Orleans, and the 2017 Paris Bar Association Bronze medal of Justice Award. Mr. Jones have been keynote speaker or panelist for some very prominent organizations such as: Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, InnocenceNetwork Conference (San Diego, California),Innocence Project Gala (New York, New York, Louisiana Public Defender Board, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ,Paris Bar Association, University of California (Santa Barbra, California),Dillard University (NewOrleans),Southern University of New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana,Louisiana Southern Poverty Law Center (New Orleans, Louisiana), Kent Presents Festival of Ideas (Kent, Connecticut),Vera Institute of Justice (New Orleans, Louisiana),Correctional Education Association conference (New Orleans, Louisiana),Telos Group conference (New Orleans, Louisiana),Narrative 4 Global conference (New Orleans, Louisiana),NFL Players Coalition (New Orleans, Louisiana) and hundreds of other groups of the past 8 years.