After earning a degree in music education from the University of Illinois, Lewis joined Peace Corps Tanzania as an environmental volunteer. In this role he worked primarily on agricultural and small-scale construction projects. After his service he returned to Illinois to complete a Masters of Public Administration while working in the private sewage program of the Illinois Department of Public Health Environmental Engineering Division.
Lewis then moved to Washington, DC, finding work with Management Sciences for Health implementing public health projects in East Africa. He has subsequently consulted for the US Navy in the Planning, Future Requirements, and Business Operations office at Camp Lemonnier-Djibouti and worked for the US Department of Energy in their Beijing, China office.
Before joining EWB in Timor-Leste, Lewis supported a project to map and survey all of the health facilities in the country and personally visited about half of the country’s nearly 300 facilities. He is excited to join Bee Lafaek and participate in the widening movement towards disaggregated utility systems.
He believes that developing countries have a great deal to teach the world, especially with regards to compassion, humility, cooperation and hope.