Loida Nicolas Lewis
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Loida Nicolas Lewis (born 1942) is a Filipino-born American businesswoman who is the widow of TLC Beatrice founder and CEO
Reginald Lewis Reginald Francis Lewis (December 7, 1942 – January 19, 1993), was an American businessman. He was one of the richest Black American men in the 1980s, and the first African-American to build a billion-dollar company: TLC Beatrice Internationa ...
. She currently resides in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Early life and education

Lewis was born and raised in
Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in the island of Luzon and ...
,
Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in the island of Luzon and ...
, the daughter of Francisco Nicolas and Magdalena Mañalac. Her sister, Imelda, was the former Lead Convenor of the
National Anti-Poverty Commission The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) is a government agency of the Republic of the Philippines. It coordinates poverty reduction programs by national and local governments and ensures that marginalized sectors participate in government dec ...
during the administration of
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. She is the longest-serving president ...
and Chairperson of the
Commission on Filipinos Overseas The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO; ) is an agency of the government of the Philippines under the Office of the President of the Philippines. CFO was established on June 16, 1980, through the enactment of Batas Pambansa Blg. 79. The a ...
during the administration of
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...
. She earned her B.A. in Humanities ''(cum laude)'' from St. Theresa's College Manila, and her Bachelor of Laws (LL. B.) from the University of the Philippines - Diliman. She placed 7th in her UP class 1967, passed the Bar Exams, and was admitted to practice in the Philippines in 1968. In 1974, she became the first Asian woman to pass the New York State Bar without studying in a US Law School, making her eligible to practice law in both the Philippines and in the United States. Lewis began to work for the Law Students Civil Research Council in New York, Manhattan Legal Services and when she passed the New York Law Bar, she worked as an associate with Antonio Martinez Law Office on immigration cases. When she won her discrimination case against the Federal Government, she finally worked as an attorney for the
Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a United States federal government agency under the United States Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and under the United States Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Refe ...
from 1978 until 1988. Lewis has had a major impact as an immigration lawyer, particularly when it comes to the rights of Filipino immigrants living in America. She co-wrote the boo
"How to Get a Green Card"
with Ilona Bray JD, 12th Edition, published by
NOLO Nolo may refer to: * Nolo, Milan, a district in the northeast of Milan * Nolo (publisher), formerly known as Nolo Press, a publisher of legal self-help material * Nolo, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community in Indiana County, in Pennsylvania, ...
. Nicolas-Lewis met her husband-to-be Reginald F. Lewis on a blind date in New York City in 1968 and were then married a year later. It was in December 1987 when her husband Reginald acquired Beatrice International in a $985 million leveraged buyout, creating the largest
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
-owned company in the United States. Reginald died from brain cancer in 1993. Lewis served as an informal adviser and confidant to her late husband. After a year of mourning, Loida N. Lewis served as CEO and Chair of TLC Beatrice International, the multinational food company that her husband entrusted to her. In an article written by Coco Marett entitled "How Loida Got Her Groove Back," the author states: ''"But despite her position and her wealth following her takeover of TLC Beatrice, Lewis remained far from flamboyant. In fact, the humble businesswoman's first move was to sell the company jet and limousines, and move her office from its top floor luxury suite in Manhattan to a more humble and inconspicuous space."'' This allowed her to maximize the profits of her late husband's company, which she sold in 1999. Lewis is Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC, a family investment firm. In March 2023, Lewis published her memoir, "Why Should Guys Have All The Fun? An Asian American Story of Love, Marriage, Motherhood, and Running a Billion Dollar Empire" — a take off from her husband's best-selling autobiography, "Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun?" posthumously published in 1995.


Personal life

Loida and Reginald were wed in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
in 1969, and have two daughters
Leslie Malaika Lewis
and Christina Lewis. Lewis has spoken to audiences around the United States and the world to promote the biography of her late husband
"''Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun? How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion Dollar Business Empire."''
After her husband's death, Lewis also became active in political causes, co-founding th
National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA)
in 1997, alongside publisher Alex Esclamado, lawyer Rodel Rodis, and recognized civic leader Gloria Caoile, with the goal to empower Filipino-Americans. Their founding conference in Washington D.C. was a historical first, with over 1,000 community leaders, high school and college students, young professionals, civil rights activists, and Filipino World War II Veterans in attendance. As Lewis spoke in front of the White House, she emphasized the importance of justice for veterans, encouraged the youth to fight for their 'lolos' and 'lolas' and to keep their legacy of heroism alive. In 2000, Lewis succeeded Esclamado as the National Chair of NaFFAA, where she played a crucial role in bringing
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, who was First Lady at that time, to the Federation's third conference in New York. Lewis also advocated for dual citizenship and overseas voting during Philippine national elections, stating that Filipino-Americans have "an important role to play in making sure that elected officials are accountable to the Filipino people."


The Reginald F. Lewis Foundation

Shortly before his death in 1993, Reginald F. Lewis gave Harvard Law School the largest grant by an individual, up to that time, in the school’s history. The Law School’s International Law Center was renamed in his honor. Among other programs, the Foundation grant supports fellowships that teach minority lawyers to be law professors. The RFL International Law Center is home to the International Legal Studies Library and contains one third of the Law Library’s international law collection. It also houses the Graduate Program where approximately 150 lawyers and scholars from around the world come to pursue LL.M or S.J.D. degrees, or to conduct research and write. The Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center is the first major facility at Harvard named in honor of an African American. Loida Lewis currently Chairs the Reginald F. Lewis (RFL) Foundation, which also supports th
Reginald F. Lewis College of Business at Virginia State University.


See also

*
List of first women lawyers and judges in New York A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links


Loida Nicolas Lewis on Facebook

Loida Nicolas Lewis on Twitter

Loida Nicolas Lewis Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolas-Lewis, Loida 1942 births Living people Filipino emigrants to the United States American women lawyers Businesspeople from New York City Philanthropists from New York (state) Filipino women lawyers People from Sorsogon University of the Philippines Diliman alumni 20th-century Filipino lawyers