Christina Lewis

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]