Dr. Harriet Lewis

Harriet Lewis, PhD, is an inspired leader with an eclectic background of over 25 years as a social entrepreneur in the private and nonprofit sectors.

Dr. Lewis is Founder/CVO of Konesens Development, a boutique consultancy that furthers peace and inclusion through corporate social responsibility/diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (CSR/DEIB) training and support; international trade; and tourism development.

In addition to Konesens Development, Dr. Lewis is a Senior Advisor at IMAN. In 2018, she was appointed as Honorary Consul for the Republic of Cabo Verde to the State of Illinois. She serves on the board and is the United Nations Representative of the Nigerian NGO, NEEDCSI, which fosters peacebuilding, violence prevention, and livelihoods training, and is a Co-Chair of the Re-Defining National Security (RDNS) Working Group for Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS).

Prior, Dr. Lewis co-founded Konesens Research, a market research firm where she provided strategic analysis for businesses and quasi-governmental agencies in the areas of exporting and tourism development; and has been employed as the Executive Director and in other executive leadership positions with nonprofit/non-governmental organizations that serve survivors of domestic violence, refugees and immigrants, formerly incarcerated individuals, small business owners, and urban youth.

A former Peace Corps Volunteer to Guinea-Bissau who trained in Cabo Verde, she is a member of several organizations, including Rotary One in Chicago; the Executives' Club of Chicago, Concordia, and the Chicago International Trade Commissioners Association (CITCA).

Dr. Lewis has presented internationally to leaders in business, health professions, and government, and her current research interests include international development, social and economic equity, export promotion, human rights, interfaith social action, cultural conflict, peacebuilding, and workplace diversity and inclusion.