Syrita Steib
Founder, president & CEO
At the age of 19, Syrita was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison. After serving nearly 10 years in prison, she was released into a community vastly different from the one she left. Cell phones and computers had evolved beyond recognition, while styling trends and social norms that were once outdated returned to form.
Despite her academic accomplishments while incarcerated, Syrita was initially denied admission at the University of New Orleans after disclosing her criminal history on her application. Two years later, she reapplied – this time, denying her criminal history – and was granted admission. While Syrita went on to graduate and become a nationally certified and licensed clinical laboratory scientist, she also knew she had an obligation to dismantle systems that were never built for justice-impacted individuals, and women in particular.
In 2016, Syrita founded Operation Restoration (OR) to support women and girls impacted by incarceration to recognize their full potential, restore their lives and discover new possibilities. As president and CEO, Syrita is responsible for overseeing the administration, programs and strategic plan of the organization.
One of the organization’s first wins was the passage of Louisiana’s “Ban the Box” legislation, which prohibits public post-secondary institutions from asking questions relating to criminal history for purposes of admissions. Louisiana was the first state to pass this type of legislation, and since then, OR has worked with partners to successfully “ban the box” in other states, including California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington.
Over the years, Syrita has been recognized nationally for her thought leadership in the realm of social justice. She appears regularly as a panelist and keynote speaker at conferences across the nation about the experiences of incarcerated women. Some of her awards and accolades include: Black Voice for Black Justice Fund Award recipient; Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Louisiana Angel Award honoree; three-time Biz New Orleans 500 honoree and New Orleans CityBusiness Women of the Year honoree; NAACP Louisiana’s Power of Influence Award recipient; and New Orleans Magazine’s Top Female Achievers. Syrita served as vice-chair for the Louisiana Task Force on Women’s Incarceration and currently serves on the Bureau of Government Research’s Board of Directors. She is also a member of The Aspen Institute’s Civil Society Fellowship.
Syrita says, “The reason I do what I do is for those I left behind.” Steib received a full presidential pardon in 2021 and continues to advocate and remove barriers on behalf of all currently and formerly incarcerated women.