Kendra Lewis

Kendra Lewis (nee Walker) is Managing Director for the Center at Sierra Health Foundation. She oversees the center’s Community Economic Mobilization Initiative (CEMI) and is responsible for grant funding, educational support and innovative policy frameworks for inclusive economic development. CEMI assists non-profits in building their capacity to participate in California’s unprecedented financial investments to strengthen climate resiliency, transportation infrastructure, housing and more. In May 2023, Kendra was elected Chair of the Black Caucus to the California Democratic Party.

She was most recently the Executive Director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance (SHA). There she advocated for safe, stable, accessible and affordable housing for people across the Sacramento region through education and policy reform. She was named Executive Director Emeritus of SHA in December 2022. Kendra has held positions in a variety of local, state and national nonprofit organizations.

Kendra has been recognized for her activism and community outreach efforts by many organizations. She received the Unsung Hero Award from the Sacramento NAACP, she received the Community Advocate Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. The Business Women’s Network recognized her with the Rising Star Award.

Kendra has been profiled on the OPEN American Express Success Stories Network and in Sacramento Magazine’s “20 Women We Admire” as well as by the Sacramento Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” feature in 2022.

Kendra is a fourth generation San Franciscan who grew up in the historic, predominantly black Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. It was against the backdrop of this historic community – that her passion to uplift and empower underserved communities was fueled. She was the first member of her immediate family to graduate from college.

She holds a BA in history from Fresno State University and a certificate of Development from University of San Francisco’s Nonprofit Management Program. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Sacramento Chapter of the Links, Inc. Kendra is married with two children.