Member Spotlight: Sheila E. Lewis
WHAT IS YOUR INDUSTRY OR AREA OF EXPERTISE?
I’ve worked in most industries because I used to have a consulting firm. I have two MBAs, one in marketing and one in finance.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE MISSION OF BLACKFEMALEPROJECT?
One, I’m a big fan of Precious and her intention around her mission. Two, I am a big fan of Precious’s deliberateness. She’s just going to do this. And she’s going to do it in the way that works best for her, and she’ll take in a lot of info to figure that out. And also I’m a big fan because of the women she is making an impression on. You plant a seed, and you change a mind or a heart. You support a dream. And then you celebrate. Everything on that spectrum, and the drama, trauma, roadblocks, bumps, bruises, pain, and hurt that sit in that as you make your way—BlackFemaleProject puts their arms around that as well.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO BLACKFEMALEPROJECT?
When I saw the name BlackFemaleProject, I was like, ‘“WHAT!? Let me take a look at what this is.” Then I attended an event, and anything that uplifts BIPOC women at large and Black women specifically? I’m in.
If I like something, I’m just going to call someone up and say, “Can we talk?” And I did that with Precious. Her spirit and her vibe were all in alignment with what and who I am. We connected on a spiritual level of knowingness.
HOW HAS BLACKFEMALEPROJECT IMPACTED YOU PERSONALLY?
Coming up in corporate America in a time where there were even fewer of us, survival felt very different. Voices were far more muted then. And there was just less certainty about how you really navigate that landscape [as a Black woman]. There might have been one Black person somewhere in the stratosphere, but you didn’t really know who they were. The identifying parts of us as Black people or Black women was not realized because there just wasn’t enough of us.
Having stepped out of corporate America and created my own path with my two companies for the past 25 years afforded me the chance to look at things very differently. And my sense about being a Black female business owner changed when I had a company where I had employees. There was a bigger presence and lens on me as a business owner, and with that came a whole different sensibility about my intersectionality as a Black woman. And there was an allowance for that to happen because I wasn't encumbered by a company. I could talk about things I wanted to. I was older and I was at a place where my voice was different and I could very clearly say “I am a Black woman.” I started to recognize a different level of personal empowerment.
What BlackFemaleProject does for me is remind me. It’s what we call Sawubona—it’s a Zulu greeting that translates to, “I see you.” It’s this idea of I see you, and I see community in you. That makes BlackFemaleProject critically important because there are so many places where we are not seen.
WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO JOIN THE BOARD OF BLACKFEMALEPROJECT?
I welcomed what Precious was doing with BlackFemaleProject and offered myself as a counselor, friend, and business builder because that's what I do. I fix things, and I build things. So I offered to help maybe four years ago when there was a pivotal moment [within the organization] where strategic planning was important. I worked with the board and Precious to help frame her dream of what she really wanted to accomplish. And she’s followed the plan.
WHAT BLACKFEMALEPROJECT CONTENT HAVE YOU FOUND MOST RESONANT?
I listen in on some of the programmatic things like the Teacher Truth series, and I read every email that comes to me from BlackFemmaleProject because I want to know what’s going on. I don’t feel that I am necessarily the target audience, but I’m a curious and sticky long-time supporter.
Bio:
After 15 years of scaling the corporate ladder in marketing innovation with leading companies including Quaker Oats and Visa, Sheila took what she’d learned and struck out on her own. In 1997, she opened her first entrepreneurial venture, Flyin’ West LLC, a firm that provided strategic and tactical marketing consulting services. In 2012, she integrated Flyin’ West into Ashton 212, LLC, a new business impact consulting firm that she grew into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. Sheila served as the Chief Executive Officer until January 1, 2020. In early 2020, she joined Tides, a $1B philanthropic partner and social venture accelerator in San Francisco as the Interim Director, Marketing + Communications at Tides in San Francisco. In that role, she designed and implemented a new operating model, doubled the size of her team, and added specifically skilled partner firms. Completing this work in early 2021, Sheila joined Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates Company, in a new position as Director, Cross-Organization Operations. In this role, she led colleagues in developing cross-organization strategies, driving operational efficiency, encouraging and coaching toward collaboration, nurturing culture, and ensuring organizational sustainability and impact at scale.
Dedicated to exhibiting and teaching solid leadership principles with a particular focus on women and minority entrepreneurs, Sheila has held a variety of volunteer leadership positions. Among others, she has been Chair of the Board of Astra Women’s Business Alliance (now WBEC Pacific), the West Coast women’s business certification arm of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She most recently served on the Executive Board of Advisors for How Women Lead, a champion for promoting the voices of all women and propelling their leadership forward; and on the Advisory Board of She the People, an organization elevating the political voice and leadership of women of color as part of a new progressive political and cultural era.
Sheila is a sought-after keynoter, moderator, and panelist at a variety of Bay Area venues; and guest lecturer at educational institutions including Pepperdine University and the University of San Francisco. Sheila earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing and Management from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA with highest honors in Marketing and Finance from Atlanta University. She was named the San Francisco Bay Area Distinguished Alumni of 2018.
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