Meet Ashlee Lewis | My Identity and I how I found my purpose

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashlee Lewis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashlee, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I always knew that I would go into human service and activism because I believe that my life’s purpose is to alleviate human suffering. My life has taught me that there are many parts of human suffering that we have no control over, then there is human suffering within our power to change, such as oppression.

Oppression was first introduced to me when I was eight years old; I experienced what it felt like to be devalued by society because I was an orphan. The grief that my two younger brothers and I felt was unbearable after losing our parents, and all I could remember was feeling paralyzed with shock and fear that I couldn’t even cry. Many people in every direction were mistreating us; it was unexpected and left me completely confused. My brothers and I endured abuse from schools, orphanages, family, and neighborhood people because we were perceived as “less than,” and they knew that we had no one to protect us. Then sexism and classism were introduced to me; prostitution was my only option, and this was said about me repeatedly, that as an orphan, poor, and a female, I had no better future in Korea.

When I was eleven years old, it was decided that we were to be adopted to a couple in the U.S., It felt like a slap in the face that my country would abandon us; they didn’t want to take care of us and would send us to a foreign land for foreign people to take us in. I have never known or seen White people before other than on black and white television. I had heard rumors at the orphanage that we would become maids or that our organs would be taken from us. There is no words to describe the terror that I felt. I felt abandoned by my country and sold like we were not human. That the Korean government would make money off of us than spend money on taking care of us to keep us in Korea. This was all unimaginable.

The third oppression came after my adoption to the U.S. in the form of racism, xenophobia, and sexism crossed over cultures. I was bullied and experienced prejudice and discrimination due to my race. The spectrum of racism was experienced from being called “Vietnamese/Chinese whore” and overly sexualized Asian women stereotypes; people constantly asking me where I come from; if I can speak English, and telling me to go back to my country. To be considered that I am extra academically smart when I wasn’t and their assumption that I am submissive and well behaved because of my Asian-ness was all weird and confusing for me. Racism made no sense to me; why were these characteristics prescribed to me? I saw that they were human first for White people, and for the rest of us, we were our race first and boxed in by prescribed characteristics.

What also came to me by surprise is that being Asian-American in the U.S., people perceived me as a “model minority,” which was a strange experience as these stereotypes boxed me in like all other “isms” and were not true about who I am. Still, people thought that I should take it as a compliment. Additionally, it was disturbing that the “model minority” stereotypes would be used to compare and insult other racial minority groups. This concept separated Asians from other racial groups that we had more in common with them than with the White people. All this left me in a peculiar place where White people perceived me as a foreigner, a Asian, the Asians perceived me as White, and I wasn’t necessarily claimed by any other groups either. Growing up as an Asian-American-Trans-Racial-Adoptee, I can easily say that I had a racial identity crisis. Racism was a huge barrier, and it imposed on me a very complicated and long journey when it came to loving and accepting myself.

My identity kept shifting as my life was changing, and how people perceived me by their assumption of who and what I am has caused me suffering on top of the trauma and grief that I was working hard to heal from. When my identity holds stigma in any particular society, I am experiencing abuse from the general community. These stigmas that people attached to me based on their perception that is not based on the truth of my human worth and the abuse that I didn’t deserve to experience have shaped what I would dedicate my life’s work towards.

We cannot control life circumstances like death and other traumatic events that cause us life-long suffering. Still, we can control or change suffering from the manufactured societal structure of power and privilege such as sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.

I wanted to help the most disenfranchised of our society; that is where I feel a kinship with the community, where I feel the pain and the driving force for my life’s purpose. The clients that we serve at the nonprofit that I run, The Initiative, are the people who are experiencing oppression at multiple levels of their identity due to their disability, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, poverty, religion, immigration status, etc. They are falling through the cracks because of these “isms” of our society that result in them being abused, unhoused, killed, and unable to access services or justice. Their identity should not sentence them to oppression and unnecessary suffering. It is every human being’s divine right to be safe.

The most important lesson that I have learned that has become the driving force of my work is safety. I believe that SAFETY is a basic human and civil right and that centering and focusing on the most marginalized to be safe will automatically be inclusive and benefit everyone else to be safe. I believe this is true for ALL people, no matter who and what they are.

It all worked out in the end. Being adopted to the U.S. by a lovely White couple in Boulder afforded me the privilege that I could only have imagined back in Korea after losing my parents. To be valued as nothing in one society and to walk into so much privilege to be raised by a White couple in Boulder, Colorado. It is an incredible privilege and gift to have this kind of second chance at life, and I cannot express what it felt like my life was doomed at age eight. I wish I could tell my 8-year-old self that somehow, all of this will work out somehow. My suffering would allow me compassion and deep understanding for the most vulnerable communities that I would be allowed an opportunity to play an essential part in alleviating the suffering of others. With this privilege and gift that I received through my adoption, I have created a beautiful life for myself and a career that is a dream come true for me. My work heals me from the wounds that I have from experiencing oppression. I am so honored to be able to help people full time and that I can use my influence to make this world a little better place.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart is that no other person in Colorado is leading or focusing their work on intersections of abuse and disability in Colorado; we are one of two in the U.S. and potentially worldwide. My work is so crucial because the disability community makes up almost 25% of our population, and they are experiencing abuse at 40-90% compared to able-bodied individuals. Most of our clients are racial minorities, women with children seeking housing, and other basic needs. They have multiple disabilities and have multiple victimizations, and we help them overcome barriers and help them get from crisis to safety.

The urgency is in the data, and there are no other programs that focus on accessibility in the way that we do. To remove barriers for the abuse survivors to receive our services: all services are free and confidential; all services are available to anybody who has experienced abuse with or without any disability. We do not require documentation of disability as disability is unreliably and inaccurately documented due to ableism, creating a barrier for disabled survivors who have been unable to access the diagnosis. We are all mobile so that we can eliminate barriers around transportation. The direct service advocates are all women of color, and 4 out of 5 are all bilingual with Spanish. We utilize Colorado Language Access, where 80 Languages are available, including American Sign Language, and we are LGBTQAI+ inclusive. We have provided clients with multiple channels of communication, whether through in-person, phone, text line, or emails. We do not require police reports as 65% of our clients have reported that they do not feel safe calling the police for help. Not requiring police reports is a significant barrier to remove as sex workers, ex-incarcerated people, undocumented, and many other people with many valid reasons why they will not call the police for help. We are well trained to work with various groups of people, and we take pride in treating each person with dignity, compassion, and respect. We have some of the most complex cases, and we are well known for treating our clients well.

The Outreach goal is to create systemic change through awareness education and ensure that services and the criminal justice systems are accessible to all survivors. This is done through an anti-oppression and an intersectional lens to give the audience a deep understanding of the complexity of layers of discrimination and bias that the survivors are experiencing. The intended outcome that we work towards is increased understanding, compassion, respect for the survivors, and for the audience to understand that inclusion and accommodation is fundamentally human and civil rights. We provide training to law enforcement, District Attorney’s offices, victim assistance units, domestic violence safe shelters, homeless programs, disability organizations, statewide conferences, medical professionals & first responders, academic institutions, and anyone who requests it. We provide cross-training to groups that come in contact with people with disabilities to build a referral base and collaborative partnerships on best practices around working together for the safety of people with disabilities.

I have learned these lessons that have helped me be successful as someone leading a nonprofit organization.

Inclusivity: I believe that true leaders do not leave people out. I have witnessed my favorite mentors in leadership positions who always ensure everyone is included. They will take extra steps to make people feel wanted in the physical space and create an emotional space of belongingness. Many leaders are in nonprofit leadership positions because they see in our society that people are falling through the cracks in basic needs and services.

Mission-driven: One of the most important qualities that I see with nonprofit leaders that I favor greatly are the ones who stay mission-focused; no matter how large and institutionalized their nonprofit becomes they don’t lose sight of the people they serve.

Relationships: In my position, I have learned that building a nonprofit is like building a building with relationships. Relationships can be called collaborations, partnerships, investors, funders, etc.. In the nonprofit world, having community partnerships means everything because we cannot provide everything that our client needs. It takes a village to get our clients from crisis to stability.

Gratitude: What makes nonprofits so unique is that it is community-owned. I have witnessed and partaken in that it takes a whole village to operate a successful nonprofit. And expressing gratitude is joyous and best business practice. I am very proud of the gratitude culture that we have built at The Initiative at both the staff and board levels. We don’t hold back on telling each other how grateful we are and celebrate good work. I am a believer that the attitude of gratitude brings abundance. People seek the approval of people in positions of power, and tokens of appreciation go very far, I believe it is essential for the leader to show gratitude.

Succession Plan: I became the Executive Director when our co-founder and director of 30 years passed away in 2015. There was no succession plan, and the organization felt like it almost died with her; therefore, the first most important lesson that I have learned as the Executive Director was that I needed to set up this organization so that the mission could survive without me. It can transition without it affecting the flow of our operation.

Integrity: I believe that nonprofit money is more important than regular money because it is community money. Nonprofit financial management is the most unexpected aspect of my learning the position, rightfully so, because the integrity of how we manage our money and to show the world that we can be trusted with their investment is a very serious matter if we want to be sustainable and/or to expand.

Promoting within the organization: Because I came from the bottom up, this is how I prefer to fill positions. I like to hire within the organization and promote within rather than hire people above the staff members already there. This practice has made our program strong since the Executive Team is made up of people who have managed direct service, have done outreach, collected data, and have done grant reporting. Another benefit of promoting within is that the staff knows that they can grow with us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This itinerary would be focused on food and nature.

I would take my guest to South Federal for the best Vietnamese food, including pho over at Pho Duy, then best banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) at Ba Le Sandwiches, then dim sum at Star Kitchen, and for the best Birria tacos at Kike’s Red tacos! Then to South Havana for Korean food and hot pot over at Seoul BBQ, all you can eat at Sushi at Sushi Katsu, for great Ethiopian food at Portico Eritrean. Then to East Colfax for best diner food at Pete’s Kitchen and the best Thai food over at Tommy’s Thai.

Then we would do some sunset walks at Washinton park for one day then the next day sunset for the best view of the entire city to Sloan’s Lake. Take my guest to the best dog park in the world at Cherry Creek State Park. I would take them paddleboarding to Aurora Reservoir and Chatfield reservoir for summer visits. I would take them on day hikes to Golden Canyon State Park, Castlewood Canyon State Park, Roxborough State Park, Staunton State Park, and Eldorado Canyon State Park.

For the weekend, I would take them for a 48-hour road trip to first hit the Rifle Waterfalls, then go through the Leadville and show them the Twin Lakes, Turquoise Lake, then take the scenic drive to Mount Princeton for the most wonderful creekside hot springs then to Sand Dunes where can do a quick hike over to Zapata falls.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To the mission and vision of The Initiative.

My birth/Korean parents and my adopted/American parents.

Website: www.TheInitiativeColorado.org

Instagram: www.instagram.com/whipping.it.up.with.LOVE ; www.instagram.com/love.2.play.outdoors

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlee-lewis-4164bba2/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashlee.lewis.444