Early career
In 1990, while an associate at a law firm, she served as the National Tour Director for the Nelson Mandela eight-city American tour, following his release from prison, where she provided advice and counsel to Mandela and senior African National Congress officials.
In D.C. government, she served as the Chief of Staff in the Department of Public Works, the second-largest department, in Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly’s Administration.
She then joined the administration of President Bill Clinton, serving as a Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs from 1993 to 1995. Lewis also served as the White House Principal Coordinator for the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA and the 1996 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games, held in Atlanta, and was the Principal Domestic Staff Coordinator for the first Summit of the Americas, held in Miami in 1994.
Legal and private-sector career
After leaving the Clinton administration, Lewis returned to the private sector and the practice of law. She held positions with several law firms, including Greenberg Traurig, where she became a shareholder, and Edwards Wildman Palmer (now known as Troutman Pepper Locke LLP) and Arter & Hadden.
Her practice included government affairs, public policy, regulatory matters, and representation of public and private-sector clients before government institutions. Lewis later became Vice President and Counselor to the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She was the first African American woman to be an officer at the world's largest business federation, where she led efforts on policies and initiatives focused on women, minorities and small business owners, entrepreneurs and organizations.
Later career
Lewis was appointed the first Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. As part of Secretary Hillary Clinton's 21st Century Statecraft, Lewis was tasked with building and enhancing relationships between state and local officials in the U.S. and their foreign counterparts around the world.
She served from 2010 to 2013 under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As Special Representative, she was key in facilitating historic agreements to enhance subnational government collaboration with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries and with targeted EU countries.
She led the international efforts of U.S. state and local governments' cooperation towards and strategy regarding climate change to RIO+20, COP-16, COP-17, and COP-18.
In 2013, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton awarded Lewis the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award for her work at the State Department. In 2024, the Department of State established the Reta Jo Lewis Local Diplomat Program, naming the program in her honor.
After leaving the State Department, Lewis joined the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). In 2015, she served as a Senior Resident Fellow focused on transatlantic leadership initiatives and also served as the Director of Congressional Affairs.
In January 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Lewis to serve as Chair, President, and CEO of EXIM. The U.S. Senate confirmed her on February 9, 2022, by a vote of 56–40.
She was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on February 16, 2022. Lewis became the first African American and first person of color to serve as Chair, President, and CEO of EXIM. During her tenure, the agency authorized more than $22 billion in financing across 177 countries, supporting U.S. exports and American jobs. Her administration emphasized strategic sectors including critical minerals, clean energy, infrastructure, semiconductors, telecommunications, and nuclear energy. Lewis launched EXIM's Make More in America initiative, which expanded the agency's support for domestic manufacturing connected to U.S. exports.
She also supported efforts to strengthen the supply chain for critical minerals and rare earth elements and increased the agency's engagement with international export-credit agencies. The Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative was a new financing tool designed to strengthen U.S. supply chains for minerals and rare earth elements to reduce reliance on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and safeguard American jobs.
In her testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, she highlighted the work that EXIM has done in meeting the Congressional mandates, including the work the agency has done in Africa. In January 2025, she signed a $527 million EXIM financing agreement with the government of Guyana to support an energy project and U.S. jobs. Lewis' term ended in January 2025. Lewis' term ended in January 2025.
Political
She has been engaged in domestic U.S. political campaigns. Lewis took a leave of absence from her role as Chief of Staff for the D.C. Department of Public Works to serve on Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign. Lewis was a member of the National Finance Committee for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, a role she held again in the 2016 presidential election cycle.
She was a pledged delegate for Hillary Clinton from the District of Columbia during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
She is a past member of a DNC platform standing committee and was an elected D.C. Democratic State Committee At-Large Committeewoman. Prior to her position at the State Department in 2008, Lewis was the Director of Business Outreach for the Obama-Biden Transition Project, and forged relationships between the incoming administration, business leaders, and national business associations.
She also served as Chair of the District of Columbia Commission for Women, where she launched the commission's economic and international committees. She was also the founder and national chair of Women of Color for Hillary (2008 & 2016) and Women of Color for Biden (2020).
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