Video: Graduation Day Reflections from the Class of 2018

Chequan Lewis is a multidisciplinary professional who leverages significant experience as a lawyer and business leader to solve complex problems in both the private and public sectors. As senior director and counsel at Pizza Hut LLC, he manages the brand’s strategic efforts in domestic franchising transactions and administration and brand enforcement.

During PLS, Lewis focused on the revitalization and relaunching of the South Dallas Fair Park Opportunity Fund, an entity at the City of Dallas that directly invests public funds in the form of targeted grants and low-interest loans for small businesses and nonprofits serving this high-need, high-potential area. The Fund aims to further human and economic development in South Dallas by unlocking and fueling the community’s capacity to revitalize itself.

Seeking to rid Louisiana of the ignoble distinction of top incarcerator in the United States, Alanah Odoms Herbert has leveraged her professional experience as a prosecutor, litigator, and chief policy advisor to Louisiana’s first African American Chief Justice to draft and pass comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation in Louisiana.

During PLS, Hebert spearheaded a statewide initiative to reduce the pretrial detention of youth in Louisiana. The initiative provides technical assistance and training to judges on the importance of utilizing objective data, rather than anecdotes, to make detention decisions that preserve the humanity and dignity of children and reduce racial disparities in incarceration.

James Ferguson launched Warrior Reunion Foundation to help America’s veterans overcome the challenges of post-military social isolation by reconnecting those who served together in combat. By focusing small-unit reunions focused upon the pillars of service, wellness, and camaraderie, the program challenges stigma through shared experience and facilitates the reestablishment of peer support networks through the personal connection of brothers and sisters in arms. With reunions held in communities across America, the program offers Americans from all backgrounds a unique opportunity to truly “know their military” and put action behind the words “thank you for your service.”