Marilynn B. Winn

Marilynn B. Winn is the Co-Founder and Lead Organizer of Women on the Rise, a grassroots organization led by formerly incarcerated women working for healthy families, justice for all women, and a reduction in the number of women under correctional control in the state of Georgia. In 2011, while working as a Lead Organizer with 9 to 5 Atlanta Working Women, Marilynn initiated the Georgia campaign to “Ban the Box.” As a result of this work, Atlanta made history by being the first city in the south to ban the box on its employment applications. Cities, counties, and eventually the State of Georgia soon followed Atlanta’s example.

In 2013 Marilynn received the 9 to 5 Atlanta Working Women’s Lilly Ledbetter Award for initiating the Ban the Box Campaign and in 2014 she received a letter of recognition from former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Roselynn Carter for her work to end employment discrimination against people with prior convictions in Georgia. In 2014 she received an Inspire Award from First Step Staffing for Achievements in Community Activism.