Board Of Directors

The Louisiana Justice Coalition is supervised by a three-member Board of Directors.

Celeste Lofton-Bagert
Celeste Lofton-Bagert received her B.A. in Political Economy from Pitzer College (Claremont, CA) in 1999 and her Masters of Science in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans in May 2021. She has more than ten years’ community organizing experience, working across a broad range of civil and human rights issues. Ms. Lofton-Bagert was Community Outreach Coordinator at the Louisiana Justice Coalition from 2007-2021.

Emily Maw, President
Emily Maw is the Director of the Innocence Project New Orleans, which is located in New Orleans but represents individuals from Mississippi and Louisiana. Under Ms. Maw’s leadership, Innocence Project New Orleans provides post-conviction representation, investigative services, public policy reform and exoneree/re-entry advocacy to their clients.

Ilona Picou, Secretary-Treasurer
Ilona Picou is an attorney with vast experience in juvenile public defense. She started the Southern Juvenile Defender Center, served as the first director of the Mid-Atlantic Juvenile Center and spent many years working to improve Louisiana's juvenile defense system. Ms. Picou has worked as a Project Manager with the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, as the Communications & Policy Director for Orleans Parish Juvenile Court (where she also coordinated the New Orleans Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative) and most recently served as the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services, providing legal defense to juvenile defendants in Orleans Parish.