Graduates: Tisha Y. Lewis, Ph.D.


Dr. Lewis on SisterMentors:
In 2006, I came back to the Washington, D.C. area to start anew. Just shy of completing the first part of my comprehensive examinations, I was unmotivated, lacked determination, and was distraught over the idea of people who were suggesting that I should quit the Ph.D. program because of my writing. I heard about SisterMentors from a family friend and supporter, Allison Silberberg. I called Dr. Lewis for an initial meeting. Words cannot express how inspiring my experience has been these last three years. Through tears, sleepless nights, and bouts of doubt, Dr. Lewis and SisterMentors women were encouraging, motivating and supportive. They listened to my dilemmas and challenged my thinking to set realistic goals towards completion. SisterMentors offered me the opportunity to go beyond my fears and inadequacies and climb to higher mountains of endless possibilities. I saw my attitude, language and fortitude change for the better and I began to visualize myself crossing the finish line.	Dr. Tisha Y. Lewis SisterMentors Graduate
I was able to put my needs on the shelf and assist the wonderful girls that we mentor each month to teach them the stamina they will need to succeed and be valued in life. Now I stand before them, the SisterMentors women and the world, not as one who was told to quit or who did not feel "good enough," but as an award-winning researcher of a cutting-edge dissertation topic. Today, national and international researchers are inviting me to partner with them to publish work analyzing the importance of learning via technology and its impact on the family. I will always be indebted to Dr. Lewis and SisterMentors women and girls.
Bio
Tisha Y. Lewis earned her Ph.D. in Reading from the University at Albany, State University of New York, in August 2009. She earned a Master of Science degree in TV/Radio, Programming and Management from Brooklyn College and a Master of Arts degree in Reading Specialization from Teachers College, Columbia University. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in English from Virginia Union University. As a native Washingtonian, Dr. Lewis attended the District of Columbia public schools, including School Without Walls. Dr. Lewis' dissertation is titled Family Literacy and Digital Literacies: A Redefined Approach to Examining Social Practices of an African-American Family. Her ethnographic case study explores the multiple ways a mother and son interact with digital literacies in the home. She is the recipient of the 2008 J. Michael Parker Award from the National Reading Conference and is a contributor to several upcoming publications, including Family Literacy: Complexities, Concerns and Considerations and Literacy Learning Through Artifacts: Every Object Tells A Story. She is the 2008-2010 recipient of a fellowship from Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color of the National Council of Teachers of English Research Foundation. Her sense of determination and resiliency comes from her parents, Tom and Lucille Lewis. Her father, one of 16 children, was the first in his family to attend college after dropping out of school in tenth grade. While working as a District of Columbia police officer, he took eight years to complete his Bachelor of Science degree at American University. Today, Dr. Lewis' father is well known as the founder of a nonprofit organization, The Fishing School, which supports families in Washington, D.C. Dr. Lewis was an adjunct professor at American University and Trinity University. She was also a lecturer at Howard University. Beginning in Fall 2010, Dr. Lewis will begin a tenure track position as an assistant professor of reading education at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. She will teach reading courses to graduate students from the Middle Secondary and Instructional Technology department.