FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2023
Noella Sudbury of Rasa Legal Makes Inc.’s 2023 Female Founders List
Salt Lake City UT – TInc. today announced its sixth annual Female Founders list, honoring a bold group of women whose innovations and ideas are shaping the world into a better place.
The founders cross all industries and bring with them unique stories of success from each stage of the entrepreneurial journey — from startup to going public, being acquired by big buyers, or spending decades at the helm of an organization. They are reinventing everything from shoes to food and are challenging issues like financial literacy and reproductive health.
“This award is the culmination of years of work, and the efforts of a passionate team of advocates for access to justice,” said Sudbury. “I hope this recognition can bring more awareness to the power of second chances, and the need for simple and affordable criminal record expungement.”
“Paying your debt to society is really important but when you’ve done your time that debt shouldn’t be hung over your head,” said Governor Cox (R-UT). “When we continually remind people of their mistakes and don’t provide opportunities to move on from those mistakes people begin to lose hope. Far too often that leads people back into the places they were trying to get out of in the first place. To be able to get rid of these minor offenses that should not be carried forward is really important and I’m proud of it.”
“To achieve social justice, you need to break down barriers and this is an area where we did,” said Mayor Jenny Wilson (D-UT). “There’s a very concerted effort going on that includes Salt Lake City, state leadership, Salt Lake County and our partners at streamlining our criminal justice system with equity, fairness and social justice as our north star in that process.”
Sudbury was nominated for Inc.’s Female Founders list for her notable achievements in the legal tech industry. She helped implement Utah’s Clean Slate law, as well as testified in many other states’ legislatures to pass Clean Slate initiatives. In 2021, she started Rasa to create a web-based eligibility tool that analyzes criminal records and streamlines many of the manual steps associated with the expungement process.
“Rasa is showing that the law can and should work for people,” Sudbury says,“and that through innovative use of technology, we can provide more affordable legal services to people without compromising quality.”
In the last year, Sudbury was also honored by the Utah State Bar with the Distinguished Service Award, an award that is given rarely, to individuals who have made a particularly unique and notable contribution to the legal profession. She has also worked locally and nationally to pass innovative expungement legislation, and was selected to participate in a national justice tech founders program.
“It was a big risk to leave my career as a lawyer, but I could see that I could help more people and make a bigger difference by starting Rasa, and that means more to me than anything else I’ve accomplished,” said Sudbury. “Every day, our work clears a path for access to housing and jobs, higher wages, and a better quality of life for those who have been held back by background checks.”
Each year, Inc. editors review thousands of applications highlighting female founders who are challenging the status quo and tackling some of the world’s biggest problems. The list features women who have overcome challenges and lifted those around them, while leading impactful organizations across the country. They join the ranks of previous honorees including Jessica Alba, Tracee Ellis Ross, Rihanna, and Shonda Rhimes.
“These 200 female founders have identified solutions to difficult problems and created valuable, industry-changing companies out of them. We congratulate this year’s list on their achievements and look forward to their continued success,” says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk.
To see the complete list, go to: https://www.inc.com/female-founders. Join the Female Founders conversation using #FemaleFounders. Inc. magazine’s Female Founders issue (April 2023) will be available online on April 4 at https://www.inc.com/magazine and on newsstands April 11.
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Interviews with Noella Sudbury are available. For media inquiries, please contact Emily Moench at [email protected]
About Inc.
The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning, multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels, including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion among the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.