As a system impacted, woman of color Dr. Amite Dominick founded Texas Prison Community Advocates (TPCA) in July 2021. TPCA operates completely through volunteers, including Dr. Dominick’s position as President. Dr. Dominick recruits, trains, and manages over 40 volunteers. TPCA works to address systemic and systematic oppression within Texas Prisons by amplifying the voices of those affected through research and grassroots mobilization, focusing on strategies to create effective policy change. This includes training and empowering formerly incarcerated people and family members to address inhumane conditions and to ensure that those in power create safe, dignified, and humane standards in all Texas prisons.

Led by Dr. Dominick, TPCA is the leading organization in Texas working to address extreme temperatures in prisons. The convergence of mass incarceration, carceral infrastructure, and climate change in the U.S. presents a national crisis to human rights.

Dr. Dominick and TPCA have responded to this crisis to catalyze change at all levels, ranging from direct service, to community education and engagement, to statewide policy advocacy. First, TPCA provides resources and direct support to incarcerated people and their families. This includes providing mediators in prisons, webinars and trainings, communications with incarcerated individuals through letters and a monthly newsletter, a database of resources, and opportunities to participate in advocacy campaigns. TPCA has implemented an indigent cooling towel program for incarcerated people, and conducted surveys with incarcerated people and family members related to heat, medical, and COVID issues to guide interventions.

Second, Dr. Dominick works to increase public awareness and conducts research through partnerships with Texas A&M and the University of Colorado Boulder, including as a co-founder and executive board member of the Climate and Incarceration Research Collaborative. TPCA’s educational work includes use of a heated mock cell and poster exhibit, social media campaigns, presenting at conferences such as the Hope Summit, and creating children’s books, workbooks and art on incarceration. Dr. Dominick travels across Texas to connect with prison families to help them prepare for, cope with, and survive during and after the incarceration of loved ones. Most recently, TPCA co-authored a report on extreme heat in Texas prisons, which generated media coverage by National Public Radio and various Texas radio, print, and television news outlets. In 2022 alone, Dr. Dominick was featured in over 15 news stories.

Third, Dr. Dominick has led efforts for policy change through working with state legislators on historic state bills. She regularly provides expert testimony before the Texas state legislature regarding prison conditions. Legislative highlights of TPCA include: a proposed incremental three-phase approach to adding air conditioning to prisons; a proposed mandate for installation of COVID ventilation systems; a proposed mandate to maintain Texas prison temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit; and proposed measures on compassionate release for individuals who are terminally ill and limitations on solitary confinement. With leadership from Dr. Dominick, two bills regarding humane temperatures passed the State House of Representatives in 2021 and 2023.

Dr. Dominick’s passion for these issues are informed by direct experiences with a family member who was incarcerated. As a woman of color, Dr. Dominick is the first person on both sides of her family who has received a doctoral degree. She has endured personal loss, including the death of her son. She has overcome challenges including being a single mother, dealing with large student debt and socio-economic struggles, dealing with COVID-related health scares, and adapting to a sudden layoff from a career as a university professor. Being a woman of color working on issues of incarceration presents unique challenges in advocating for change at all levels of society.

Dr. Dominick’s future ambitions include growing TPCA into a well-resourced organization with paid staff. Her vision is to change the public narrative about incarcerated peoples and their humanity, to reduce the footprint of mass incarceration, and to realize more humane and dignified conditions in prisons, including through educational opportunities, safe and healthy infrastructure, and support structures for families. She seeks to address the structural disadvantages of those who are formerly incarcerated and reintegrating into society, including through employment, housing, health, and civic rights.

Dr. Dominick obtained both her Bachelor’s of Clinical and Counseling Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from San Jose State University and a Doctorate degree in Psychology, from Loma Linda University in California. Her major areas of concentration included Experimental, Biological, and Social Psychology. Dr. Dominick is a former Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Argosy University, Farmers Branch, Texas, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, Moreno Valley Community College, Riverside Community College, and San Bernardino Community College at Crafton Hills. Dr. Dominick has worked in advocacy since 2015, including as vice president of Texas Prisons Air Conditioning Advocates (May 2018 to June 2021) and as a Board Member of Texas CURE. Dr. Dominick is passionate about seeing changes made to the inhumane conditions in Texas prisons.