Marianne Oleson

Marianne Oleson is the Operations Director of EX-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) of Wisconsin, where she leads daily operations, program development, and financial management for the statewide peer-led nonprofit. Drawing on her lived experience of incarceration, she has become a respected leader in Wisconsin’s reentry and justice reform movements.

Marianne spearheaded the development of EXPO’s flagship S.A.F.E. (Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom & Equality) House, the organization’s first peer-led reentry housing program for women, and recently expanded it with an Independent Living property focused on family reunification. She oversees EXPO’s workforce development, recovery, and peer support initiatives, which have connected dozens of participants to employment, education, and CPS certification.

In addition to programmatic leadership, Marianne manages EXPO’s financial operations, grant writing, and reporting, ensuring sustainability while advancing innovative social enterprises such as merchandise sales and workforce training labs. She has also forged partnerships with universities, government agencies, and community organizations to expand higher education in prisons, provide trauma-informed recovery supports, and build pathways for civic engagement.

Through her work, Marianne embodies EXPO’s mission of creating hope, dignity, and opportunity for people returning from incarceration, demonstrating the power of peer support, advocacy, and “framily” in transforming lives and communities.