anika butler

operation girls coordinator

Anika Butler serves as the Operation Girls Coordinator, where she is responsible for mentoring, empowering and advocating for girls and young women. She develops and expands Operation Girls’ programs and initiatives, as well as cultivates and maintains relationships with referral sources, potential volunteer mentors and donors for girls ages 10-17.

Before joining Operation Restoration, Anika worked for the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) and served as the YEP Works Program Coordinator, where she provided mentoring and educational opportunities to young people in the New Orleans community. In her role, Anika provided quality instruction to participants in Retail Industry Fundamentals, a nationally recognized and accredited program with Penn Foster. Additionally, Anika ensured that all young people in programming were provided with basic needs assistance, educational and employment opportunities and resources and extensive wraparound supportive services.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Anika received her bachelor of arts in English literature from the University of Southern Mississippi and her master of arts in secondary English language arts from Relay Graduate School of Education. Currently, Anika is pursuing her Juris Doctorate at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Anika credits her passion for service to her Americorps experience and is a proud alumna of City Year Baton Rouge and Teach for America South Louisiana.

Anika is passionate about mentoring and empowering young people in the New Orleans community and working to ensure that all citizens have access to the necessary resources needed for their overall success. At Operation Restoration, she is looking forward to combining her love for young people with her passion for criminal justice reform to help girls impacted by incarceration succeed and be all they can be despite the odds and circumstances they face.