Join us for IWPR’s 2026 Power+ Summit, The Power Grid: Driving Gender Equity Forward, taking place September 28–29 in Detroit, MI.
Together, we will spark bold ideas, share breakthroughs, and shape the future of gender equity.
Martinique Free is Project Director of IWPR’s Connect for Success, an initiative that expands access to reproductive health care supports for community college students. In this role, she leads the expansion of high-potential programs by growing partnerships and fostering connections among community colleges, community partners, and other stakeholders.
Prior to IWPR, Dr. Free worked at American University as director of an accelerated public health scholars’ program, where she exposed undergraduates to topics such as health equity, advocacy, reproductive justice, epidemiology, and social determinants of health. Dr. Free served on the department’s leadership team where she provided ongoing strategic advisement to the management of the department. Dr. Free has a plethora of professional and research experiences in public health within community-led programming as well as conducting HIV incidence and surveillance on the local and state levels. Dr. Free is passionate about reproductive justice and women’s health in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations, health equity, and understanding cultural relevance as it relates to health promotion and disease prevention.
Dr. Free earned her doctorate in health education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She received her master of public health with a concentration in communicable diseases and behavioral health science from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. Additionally, she has a bachelor of science in laboratory animal science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.