Ananda Lewis

A combination of deep compassion, true intelligence, striking beauty and a big mouth has helped award winning television host Ananda Lewis reach new heights. Her talents have garnered a wealth of achievements, yet she has only just begun!Ananda, Sanskrit for "bliss", has been touching lives on and off screen since the age of 13. The San Diego, California native was a Head Start volunteer while a student at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. For nine years (4th through 12th grades) Ananda studied theater, vocal music, photography, and dance at the prestigious school that she credits with giving her the ability to maintain a free spirit and cultivate her confidence. "The teachers I had at SDSCPA and the supportive, nurturing environment of the campus in general are probably the #1 reason I am seeing success now," she says. After graduating from high school, Ananda left San Diego to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C.

While attending college in Washington, D.C., Ananda continued to evolve as a youth activist. "My college roommate, Dana Jones, introduced me to an intense, life-restructuring program for teenagers called ‘Youth at Risk’. During our sophomore year, we volunteered in the program for a year which included a 10-day camp retreat with 98 young people that changed their lives as well as mine." During the summers of ’94 and ’95, Ananda worked for the Youth Leadership and Development Institute (YLDI) as a trainer in personal power, leadership skills, parenting and nutrition, conflict resolution and violence prevention. "I had 20 young-folk everyday for 3 months per summer. It was so intense to witness the impact of my work and it confirmed for me that being a teacher was what I came there for." Ananda earned her degree (a BA in History) and graduated Cum Laude from Howard in 1995. Later that summer, she joined actor Malik Yoba to facilitate a youth conference in Belize, Central America. "It was my first real trip out of the U.S. and I saw that the problems of my generation were global, not local. I came back for my second summer at YLDI completely recharged and refocused on the empowerment of my people."

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