Christina Lewis

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Christina Lewis
Born1980 (age 41–42)
NationalityAmerican
EmployerThe Wall Street Journal (2005–2010)
OrganizationAll Star Code
Spouse(s)Daniel Halpern
Children2
Parents
Honours, White House (2014)
Websitechristinalewis.com

Christina Lewis is a social entrepreneur and journalist, who has founded two organizations, All Star Code, a non-profit education organization that attracts, prepares, and places young men of color in the branch of technology, and Give Blck, a comprehensive database of Black-Founded non-profit organizations.

Life and career[]

Lewis was born around 1980.[1] She grew up in New York City with her parents and sister. Her father, Reginald F. Lewis, was a pioneer on Wall Street and the first African American to own a billion-dollar company, TLC Beatrice International Holdings, in the US.[2][3][4] Her mother, Loida Nicolas Lewis, is a Filipino-born American businesswoman who served as Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice after her husband died.[5]

Lewis attended Harvard University where she graduated in 2002 with a BA in history and literature.[6] After graduating from college, Lewis worked as a journalist for Court TV for a year, then the Stamford Advocate for a year, then worked for the Wall Street Journal writing about real estate from 2005 to 2010. After that, she started working as a freelance journalist and writer.[7][8]

In 2012, she published a memoir and biography of her father, Lonely at the Top, which explored her life and achievements in parallel to her father's.[2][9]

In 2013, she founded All Star Code, a nonprofit that teaches Black and Latino young men computer skills and soft skills over intensive summer sessions.[1][10] She initially funded it with money from the Lewis family office.[1] The program has also made use of corporate partnerships; the fall 2013 launch was hosted at the offices of Spotify in New York City,[1] Google has worked with the program,[11] and the 2016 summer program was sponsored by Goldman Sachs.[12]

In 2014, Lewis was recognized by the Obama administration as a "Champion of Change for STEM Access,"[13] and in 2016, the National Action Network honored Lewis as a “Woman of Power” for her work in the program.[14]

As of 2018, All Star Code’s summer program had graduated 290 students.[15][16]

Outside of All Star Code, Lewis has been an angel investor and has served on Hunter College’s computer science advisory board.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Hempel, Jessi (April 7, 2014). "A plan to get more black boys in tech". Fortune. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b McCauley, Mary Carole (February 10, 2012). "Reginald Lewis' daughter opens up about growing up with her famous father". The Baltimore Sun. Trif Alatzas. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  3. ^ Walsh, Christopher (July 27, 2017). "Diversity in Tech the Goal". East Hampton Star. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Matthews, Nadine (February 16, 2018). "PBS documentary profiles African-American business tycoon". Amsterdam News. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Helm, Angela (February 15, 2018). "Billion-Dollar Legacy: Reginald F. Lewis' Incredible Life Story Comes to Film". The Root. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "Christina Lewis, Daniel Halpern". The New York Times. September 24, 2010. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  7. ^ "Christina Lewis". LinkedIn. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  8. ^ "Christina Lewis Halpern". www.33voices.com. 2012.
  9. ^ Hyland, Veronique (January 26, 2012). "On Our Reading List: Christina Lewis Halpern's Lonely at the Top". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  10. ^ Gilpin, Lyndsey (April 19, 2015). "Christina Lewis Halpern: All Star Code founder. Youth advocate. Social entrepreneur". TechRepublic. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  11. ^ "How Google is addressing the tech industry's diversity problem". PBS NewsHour. August 2, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  12. ^ Wadhwa, Tina (August 17, 2016). "Inside Goldman Sachs' program to develop a new generation of coders". Business Insider. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  13. ^ "Christina Lewis Halpern". The White House. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  14. ^ "UniPro Summit 2017: "Persist"". UniPro | Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc. June 3, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  15. ^ Belton, Danielle C. (April 14, 2018). "How Physics Works and Other Things I Learned at All Star Code's 5th-Anniversary Celebration". The Root. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  16. ^ "All Star Code Raises Over $1 Million to Expand Stem Summer Program For Boys Of Color". Black Enterprise. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  17. ^ "Christina Lewis Halpern's schedule for Bloomberg Business of Equality". Retrieved June 6, 2018.
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