Annie Phoenix

Annie Phoenix, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans.

Guided by a faith that does justice, the Jesuit Social Research Institute accompanies communities through service, research, education, and advocacy to address the core issues of poverty and race. JSRI leads the Loyola at Rayburn program, which provides for-credit courses to forty incarcerated students and fifteen correctional employees. 

At JSRI, Annie leads the staff and partners to identify assets, design programs, and secure funding. She has a passion for working closely with community leaders to build innovative, ambitious, sustainable programming.

Annie was previously the co-founder and development director of Operation Restoration, a non-profit organization that supports currently and formerly incarcerated women. She led efforts to establish a college in prison program in partnership with Tulane University. Annie is also an experienced advocate who has written and passed multiple laws in Louisiana and supported federal legislation to restore the Pell grant for incarcerated students.

Annie received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Tulane University’s City, Culture, and Community program in 2021. Her dissertation was a critical policy analysis of efforts to remove criminal history questions from college applications in five states.