emily posner

general counsel

Emily joined VOTE in 2022 as General Counsel, using litigation to advance the organization’s mission of restoring the full civil and human rights of currently and formerly incarcerated individuals in Louisiana and beyond. She provides counsel on non-profit governance, criminal procedure, and human rights advocacy, while coordinating VOTE’s litigation efforts. Emily is also an acting member of the Building Community Not Prisons Coalition. 

 Before joining VOTE, Emily managed a boutique law firm dedicated to addressing racial, environmental, and social injustices. Her work included confronting corporate control of natural resources and abuses within the prison-industrial complex. She previously served as Policy and Legislative Counsel for the Recirculating Farms Coalition, where she championed sustainable food systems. 

 Notable achievements include securing a bed cap at Orleans Parish Prison, delaying the construction of a federal prison in Letcher County, Kentucky, and expanding access to critical public health services in Louisiana prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 Emily’s career began in grassroots organizing in Maine and Louisiana. She co-founded Mainers Against the Abuse of Solitary Confinement in 2010, inspired by Angola Three members Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King. This coalition was among the first to push for legislative oversight of solitary confinement and incorporated the efforts of currently and formerly incarcerated people in drafting legislation, testifying at public hearings and lobbying for its passage. 

Her environmental justice work spans campaigns against water extraction by Nestlé and forest clearcutting by Plum Creek Timber Co., as well as advocacy for sustainable farming and soil restoration. She lived for four years off-grid at After the Fall Farm in Maine. 

Emily has received the 2013 Public Service Award from the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center, the 2010 Roger Baldwin Award from the Maine Civil Liberties Union, and numerous fellowships for her commitment to environmental and social justice. She serves on the board of the Mark Weiss and Jon Posner Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Wayne State University, supporting law students in public interest careers. 

When Emily isn’t hanging with her VOTE family, you’ll find her in her garden, in City Park with her dog, or at the Smoothie King Center cheering on the Pelicans (she loves rooting for the underdog).