{"id":11643,"date":"2024-02-29T20:15:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T20:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=11643"},"modified":"2024-02-29T20:15:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T20:15:55","slug":"meet-the-candidate-jovonia-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/02\/29\/meet-the-candidate-jovonia-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the candidate: Jovonia Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editors\u2019 Note: Eleven candidates \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are vying for five seats on the Durham County Board of Commissioners in the March 5 election. No Republicans or Libertarians have entered the contest, so the March 5 results will determine who sits on the commission. The 9th Street Journal is profiling candidates in the race.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In February of 2012, Jovonia Lewis was a young mother. She sat on her couch watching her infant and toddler when her world shook. The TV was painted with a heartbreaking visual: Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black teenager, had been shot and killed in cold blood. At that moment, Lewis decided to pursue public service.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember looking into my brown boys\u2019 faces, being a new mother, and committing to working to create conditions where people can thrive,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Today, Lewis is one of 11 Democratic candidates vying for a spot as a Durham County commissioner. You can find her sitting in the Durham school board\u2019s meeting room, where she has served as a board member since July 2020, or leading Empowered Parents in Community, a nonprofit she founded that focuses on equity in the public schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Lewis\u2019 time has been dominated by the school system\u2019s recent payroll crisis. After the school district granted pay raises to nearly 2,000 workers, the school board discovered that the raises would cost the district nearly $9 million over budget and backpedaled on the raises. The pay dispute has prompted \u201csick outs,\u201d protests and school closures.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When she first heard about the debacle, Lewis, who supports higher pay for district employees, says she was in disbelief. Then she was angry. Hurt. Then, she says, she took a deep breath and got to work, including meeting with numerous workers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the school board\u2019s Feb. 22 meeting, Lewis voted with the majority to give raise classified workers an 11 percent pay raise over last year. Even with the raise, though, many workers will make less than they did in the fall. In explaining her vote at the meeting, Lewis cited budget concerns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was built on an inaccurate financial model that our budget cannot support,\u201d Lewis said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis was also recently named to a panel that will meet with worker representatives to discuss salary issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe board needs to listen to the people who were impacted directly. We need to hear their stories,\u201d the former therapist says. \u201cWe need concrete structures and procedures around salaries, rebuilding public trust, transparency, communication and accountability.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Lewis moved to Durham in 2013, it marked a return to her North Carolina roots. Born in Bertie County, N. C., Lewis experienced formative years in Germany, where she moved at age 13. She lived on a military base with her father, learning about different cultures. She graduated high school in Germany and moved back to the United States, attending UNC-Greensboro (she pumps her fist, shouting \u201cSpartan Spirit!) .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating with a degree in psychology and pursuing a master\u2019s at Georgia State University, Lewis followed her mother\u2019s path in social services and became a licensed clinical mental health counselor in 2004. She worked with group homes, foster children, and victims of domestic violence to help them get help. \u201cMy heart\u2019s work is mental health and destigmatizing, getting mental health support.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2013, Lewis stepped away from clinical practice, moving to Durham to be closer to family and to become the franchise owner of the city\u2019s first Smoothie King, which she ran for several years. \u201c\u2018Where is Jovonia?\u2019\u201d Lewis recalls people asking. \u201cShe is the one who has to make my smoothie!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing her customers’ orders by heart was essential to Lewis, who after spending time in government, nonprofit and entrepreneurial spaces, says she still considers personal connections paramount. If elected as county commissioner, Lewis would prioritize economic growth, workforce development, public safety, mental health, public housing and supporting public schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For this race, Lewis has received endorsements from the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the Friends of Durham, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaaren Haldeman, who served on the city\u2019s inaugural Racial Equity Task Force with Lewis, describes her as \u201csomeone who leads with empathy and a listening ear.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spring of 2023, students and families were experiencing acute grief after classmates at area high schools were shot, some killed. Haldeman recalls how, one evening in April, in a packed gathering at St. Joseph\u2019s AME Church, Lewis led a difficult and emotional conversation with community youth about violence, grieving, and healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe ensured that youth were driving the conversation with our young people, and her presence was one of a calm and attentive leader who cared,\u201d Haldeman said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the school board, Lewis has been a proponent of social-emotional learning, such as when she organized a day of remembrance for victims of gun violence. \u201cSomeone said \u2018This is not our lane; we educate kids.\u2019 Then I must not know how to stay in my lane.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am a people person. I feel things deeply,\u201d she adds. \u201cThat is what fuels me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early voting continues through March 2 ahead of the March 5 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editors\u2019 Note: Eleven candidates \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are vying for five seats on the Durham County Board of Commissioners in the March 5 election.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":11645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[392,12],"tags":[269],"class_list":["post-11643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections-2024","category-local-government","tag-the-9th-street-journal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the candidate: Jovonia Lewis - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/02\/29\/meet-the-candidate-jovonia-lewis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the candidate: Jovonia Lewis - 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