Name: Syrita Steib

Job Title: Founder and President/CEO

Company Name: Operation Restoration

Bio: Steib started Operation Restoration in 2016 to eradicate the roadblocks she faced when returning to society after incarceration. At the age of 19, Steib was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison. Despite her academic accomplishments while incarcerated, Steib was initially denied admission at the University of New Orleans due to the criminal history question. Two years later, she reapplied, unchecked the box, and was granted admission. Steib went on to earn her B.S. from Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and is a nationally certified and licensed Clinical Laboratory Scientist.

Bio 2: Steib is a policy consultant for Cut50’s Dignity for Incarcerated Women campaign and worked tirelessly on the passage of the First Step Act. She was co-chair for the healthy families committee for New Orleans Mayor Cantrell’s transition team, a panelist on the Empowerment stage at Essence Festival in 2018 and 2019, and is a a 2020 Rubinger Fellow and Unlocked Futures Fellow.

Bio 3: In 2017, Steib wrote and successfully passed Louisiana Act 276 which prohibits public post-secondary institutions in Louisiana from asking questions relating to criminal history for purposes of admissions, making Louisiana the first state to pass this type of legislation. Steib was appointed by the Governor to the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment oversight council and is the vice chair for the Louisiana Task Force on Women’s Incarceration. She also helped create and was featured in the Newcomb Art Museum’s Per(Sister) exhibit which shared the stories of currently and formerly incarcerated women.