LaShana Lewis
Leadership Award
LaShana's leadership to empower all Americans through work and education has been recognized by business and civic leaders across the nation. She began working with computers when she asked her East St. Louis high school teacher to help her learn to code. Later, after being written off solely because she didn’t have a degree, she discovered LaunchCode, which helped her find a position at Mastercard as a Software Engineer. In a speech given by President Barack Obama, she became known as a national success story. LaShana has since founded L.M. Lewis Consulting which helps corporations and nonprofits with technology, governance, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As Board Chair of the Show Me Integrity Education Fund, LaShana has helped create policy and educate the community on approval voting and ethics to re-unite America. As Chair of the Downtown Neighborhood Association and Secretary of the Downtown CID, she helps revitalize downtown St. Louis.