Derrick Lewis is a senior program officer for Partnerships lead for the Young Leaders of Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program. In this role, Derrick provides leadership for the Partnerships component, which develops relationships with key program partners, including city liaisons, fellowship placement organizations, and members of congress and builds meaningful professional partnerships and placements for Fellows. In this role, Derrick contributes to programmatic activities and professional networking that enhance professional opportunities and mentorship for entrepreneurs from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada.

Previously, as program officer for the CREDIBLE program in the Dominican Republic, Derrick works alongside youth-led and youth-serving partner organizations to build media and digital literacy and strengthen information ecosystems in the country, while bolstering resilience to misinformation.

Prior to joining IREX, Derrick developed international, graduate-level internships for young adults and taught ESL for youth in the Dominican Republic. Derrick served as a Youth, Family and Community Development volunteer in the Peace Corps, strengthening institutional capacity with a host of community-based organizations. Prior, Derrick worked for Georgetown University where he organized academic enrichment and college access programs for underserved youth from the Washington, DC area.   

Derrick holds a bachelor of arts in english and spanish from Wake Forest University, a master’s degree in English from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in international education from the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont. Derrick speaks English and Spanish.