Lewis was CEO of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the left-leaning and often controversial group that advocates on behalf of low-income Americans. Although the organization disbanded in 2010, she's still active, launching The Black Institute.

Lewis grew up in Philadelphia and came to New York to be, of all things, a theater producer. She became a housing and education activist when she saw the the deep-seated problems in her neighborhood, the South Bronx. In 1988 she began working for the Banana Kelly Community Organization as a tenant and community organizer, and by 1992 she began her affiliation with ACORN, as director of their loan counseling program. She helped negotiate deals with major banks under the Community Reinvestment Act, giving many low-income New Yorkers their first homes. She held many positions over her nearly two-decades long affiliation with the organization, and in 2008, she became CEO. She saw membership blossom from 10,000 to nearly 200,000, and has aided in causes as diverse as parent's rights to school choice unionizing home care workers. Unfortunately, ACORN was forced to disband, but Lewis still has other plans up her sleeve with the newly launched Black Institute, an "action tank" which hopes to influence public policy from a uniquely black perspective. [Image via Getty]