by Rebecca Sanders
It’s no wonder that Kimberly Lewis is resilient, brilliant, and beautiful. She was, after all, named for the Kimberley Diamond Mine in South Africa. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1964, just a few months after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Lewis was the fourth child in her family and the first of her siblings to be born in a hospital. A visiting physician from South Africa delivered her and declared her name should be “Kimberly.”
Kimberly Lewis has been spreading her diamond-like qualities throughout her life and is fulfilling her mission of providing educational opportunities and helping others both as a mother and as the president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of East Texas.
Prior to being named to her role with Goodwill of East Texas in 2013, Lewis held a similar position with Goodwill Industries in West Virginia. Lewis is a published author with four books to her credit including the bestseller, Against All Odds, which she co-wrote with Lisa Nichols. Lewis’ book, The Fourth Generation, has been used to teach southern history in South Carolina schools and her books A Seat at the Table and Biases have been used to teach the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Lewis earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College of Charleston. Her master’s degree from Marshall University is in Adult Technical Education, which fits very well with her position at Goodwill.
While Lewis has numerous awards and recognitions for her roles in journalism and nonprofit work, her greatest prizes are her two daughters, Jasmine and Alesha. Jasmine, 33, is a successful attorney handling financial services and human resources law. Alesha, 26, is completing her doctoral degree in political science from the University of Illinois. According to Lewis, the three share a similar level of “geekiness,” with their love of books and education.
“One of my fondest memories as a child was, every single Thursday, my mother would take me to the small community library,” Lewis said. She always checked out seven books, which was the maximum the library allowed. “Even before I knew how to read, I had a library card,” she added.
Because the tradition was so important to Lewis, she instilled the love of reading in her own children. “When they were little, my daughters didn’t ask for toys or dolls; they asked for books,” Lewis said. Even today, Jasmine and Alesha always include at least one book on their Christmas wish lists.
In addition to their love of reading, Lewis and her daughters enjoy traveling together. While it is challenging to coordinate their busy schedules, the three plan a trip together at least once a year. Last fall, Jasmine and Alesha joined their mother for a trip to Paris and afterwards she joined Goodwill colleagues on a textile recycling exploration in Europe.
Environmental causes such as recycling and sustainability are initiatives Jasmine and Alesha embraced at a young age. In the fourth grade, Jasmine made a commercial for the City of Charleston to promote recycling cans and bottles. Alesha spent one summer after college to help with beach clean-ups and later took a year off between her studies to travel the country with AmeriCorps helping with disaster relief.
At one point in her life, Lewis thought she might never marry or have children but would instead fulfill her dream of writing and traveling the world. She did, however, fall in love, get married, and several years later, had Jasmine and Alesha. “Once you have children, it becomes about them,” Lewis said. “Nothing has been more important to me than the success of my children,” she added.
Lewis embraced her role as a mother by providing the best love and care possible. She only used cloth diapers and cooked all the family’s meals at home. “They still come home today and request childhood dishes,” she said.
Lewis encouraged her daughters to continue their educations and to stay focused. “My teaching to them [was to] get your career in order. Make sure you can take care of yourself and then you can venture out.”
Jasmine set her career goal of becoming a lawyer while in first grade. Her young classmates nicknamed her “the attorney” after successfully pleading the cases for several students who were placed in “time out” for playground mischief.
When asked what advice she might give to mothers today, Lewis said, “Expose your children to as many positive experiences as you can. You may not be able to afford to take them to Paris, but that’s why books are so important. Get books and read to them. It excites their imagination [and enables them] to envision a world outside their household.”
Another piece of advice she has poured into her children is, “Wherever we are blessed to place our feet, we need to leave it better than we found it.” As active volunteers in their community and church, Lewis and her daughters have indeed made a difference everywhere they have lived. Numerous projects and community programs started by the Lewis ladies are still in place today. There is no doubt that Kimberly, Jasmine, and Alesha Lewis are following Kimberly’s advice: “Make it better than you found it. Leave a legacy.”