UNC Pembroke junior Kamren Lewis has been selected for outstanding leadership and service by North Carolina Campus Compact.

Lewis is a recipient of the network’s Community Impact Student Award, which recognizes one student leader at each member school who demonstrates a deep commitment to community involvement and the ability to inspire peers. Campus Compact honored the recipients during a virtual awards ceremony on November 13, 2020.

Lewis, a social work major, volunteers with Brave Foundations and serves as the Student Service Leader for Life Skills Development in the Office for Community and Civic Engagement. In this role, he works with the local housing authorities and public schools to provide educational workshops for teens related to basic life skills, such as career readiness, healthy eating, budgeting and financial literacy, leadership and communication.

Lewis not only develops the partnerships and curriculums for this program, but he also recruits, trains and manages other student volunteers to assist. During the 2019-2020 academic year, he engaged nearly 80 participants and just over 30 volunteers in this program. Even when UNCP moved to virtual learning, Lewis continued recruiting volunteers to produce virtual resources for the participants. This academic year, in addition to the teen life skills program, he has taken on the role of facilitating a similar program with adults.

Christie Poteet, director of the Office for community and Civic Engagement, who nominated Lewis for the award said, “Representatives from both the public schools and housing authority commented on how valuable Kamren's contribution was to their clients’ participation. The kids would look forward to meeting and working with Kamren due to his demonstrated commitment and dedication to their growth and success.”

Lewis has also served as a peer mentor for college students on academic probation meeting with them regularly to help them identify on-campus resources and discuss ways to overcome challenges and obstacles in being successful on their academic journeys.

North Carolina Campus Compact is a collaborative network of 39 colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility, partner with communities for positive change, and strengthen democracy.