Syrita Steib
Syrita Steib is the founder and executive director of Operation Restoration, a nonprofit that creates opportunities for formerly incarcerated women, eradicating the roadblocks that she faced when returning to society after incarceration. Steib wrote and advocated for Louisiana Act 276, which prohibits public post-secondary institutions from asking questions relating to criminal history for purposes of admissions. Syrita has continued to work with advocates in five states to pass legislation to ban the box in college admissions. As a policy consultant for Cut50’s Dignity for Incarcerated Women campaign, she worked on the passage of the First Step Act. She has served as co-chair of the healthy families committee for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s transition team; was appointed to the executive board for Dillard University’s new Center for Racial Justice; was appointed by the governor to the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment oversight council; and was the vice chair of the Louisiana Task Force on Women’s Incarceration. The 2020 recipient of the Rubinger Fellowship, Syrita earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University.