Sabrina Lewis, a former Miss Black Texas USA, today uses her platform to build financial wellness among marginalized communities.
As one who defied stereotypical standards of beauty and embraced African America and ideals that were once considered negatively, she is now focusing on uplifting communities with financial literacy as the chair and director of Houston Money Week.
“I don’t know if I would’ve been listened to had I not been Ms. Black Texas,” Lewis said, who won the title in 2020. “As an African American woman, I know we face a lot of being silenced in the workplace, and sometimes maybe just not being listened to until it’s time to fix something that’s really problematic.”
Lewis was born in Wichita Falls. She was the third of nine siblings and completed her bachelor’s in Sociology from Lamar University. Soon after, she joined the U.S. Navy and then a firm as a “glorified debt collector.”
However, she realized that despite making “a lot” of money, she was still seeking happiness. Someone suggested she consider a certification in financial planning to help people figure out their finances. She followed the advice and is now pursuing a certification in the field.
“As the driving spirit behind Houston Money Week, she [Lewis] has redefined what it means to empower a community, championing financial literacy as a cornerstone of opportunity and resilience,” said Kyara Ofuani, who is an attorney and was 2022 Miss Black Texas. “Her unwavering commitment to bridging gaps and building pathways ensures that every individual, no matter their background, has access to the tools and resources needed to thrive.”
During COVID-19, she quit her job and moved to Hempstead Texas to understand her life’s mission as “all 20-something-year-olds do.”
Lewis realized pretty quickly that she wanted to help the African American community build wealth and bridge the racial wealth gap when she stumbled upon the Ms. Black USA pageant.
In October 2020, she became the ambassador for the Houston Financial Empowerment Center Ambassador and was promoted to the BankOn Houston Program Director at the Mayor’s office. Lewis was also the 2020 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Voter Campaign.
What Lewis does now
Houston Money Week is a citywide initiative that focuses on advancing financial literacy for Houstonians. According to its website, the organization has served more than 41,126 Houstonians since 2016.
Sabrina Lewis met with Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at a 2024 roundtable hosted by Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), discussing the financial well-being of Houston residents. Credit: Sabrina Lewis 
Sabrina Lewis in 2020, after speaking at the Say Her Name rally, raising awareness about financial disparities affecting Black women. Credit: Sabrina Lewis 
Sabrina Lewis volunteering as a Deputy Voter Registrar for the Houston Area Urban League Young Professionals in 2020. Credit: Sabrina Lewis 
Sabrina Lewis in Washington, D.C., 2021, celebrated as the only contestant to win awards across all categories, earning 2nd runner-up for Ms. Black USA, Miss Congeniality, and Miss Community Advocate. Credit: Sabrina Lewis
As the Executive Director and Chair, Lewis aims to build economic awareness and monetary sustainability. In other words, she helps people make, save, and grow their money.
“We work with organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, to curate events that will be more impactful to the community,” Lewis said. “I use the term Actionable Education…For example, you don’t just educate someone that they need a bank account. You give them the opportunity right there to open a bank account, and you give them the resources to do so.”
Lewis said 45% of Houston Money Week’s events in 2024 were tailored toward women and refugees, 30% for youth under 18, and some helping the Black community. Its program, Every Teen, integrates high school seniors, helping them get their state ID and open their very first bank account.
Lewis said this program was conducted in Houston ISD schools like Wheatley and Sharpstown High Schools, which have a significant population of Black students.
“It’s a really big deal because, as we know with the racial wealth gap, that also comes into not being in certain professional fields,” Lewis said. “The problem is not that young African Americans do not want to be in these fields, but they’re never exposed to them. They may never see the inside of a bank until they get a job where they say you have to have a bank account.”
Her family values brought her here
Lewis said her parents and grandparents worked “very hard.” She noticed that her grandparents, who picked cotton and lived in a sharecropping system, seemed to know about insurance, which others in their community did not. They were among the first people in their neighborhood to buy a home.
That got Lewis interested in understanding what she calls the “missing pieces”—annuities, insurance policies and legacy planning.
“It’s good to have a will, but there’s more to it, or else your children may end up in probate court,” Lewis said. “I could see it wasn’t necessarily that Black people were not buying homes because they did in the fifties and sixties, and the forties and the seventies. It was the transition of that wealth from one generation to another. And the lack thereof was due to not knowing the American financial system and how it operated. That became of high interest to me, and that’s why it was my philanthropy for Ms. Black Texas, financial wellness for all. The statistics show that African Americans do not earn as much as other races and counterparts despite consistently working.”
Lewis advises the Black community not to save but to invest, including 401k plans or stocks.
“It doesn’t have to be a large amount,” she advised. “It could be 20% or 50% of what you were gonna put into the savings. The other thing I would say is to start now. Don’t wait till tomorrow.”
She also advised negotiating one’s worth, changing jobs every two years, and finding a skill “no one can take from you.”
“Money is a tool,” Lewis said. “The tool is only as good with proper maintenance use and understanding and only then can you have your money work for you and not you working for money.”
What’s next for Lewis?
Lewis has already planned for the next year. She aims to raise $1 million in Houston Money Week’s “10 by 10” campaign, which involves donating $10 to our GoFundMe and sharing it with 10 people to reach 100,000 residents of Houston.
“Next year, my goal is really for Houston Money Week to be bigger and better and more integrated into the day-to-day life of a Houstonian,” Lewis said. “So say your friend calls you and says, ‘Hey, you think you can help me with $200?’ I would like the conversation with that person to be, ‘Go check out Houston Money Week’s website. You know, they have all the resources to help you with anything, right?’ And they go click on our website. My goal is to make Houston Money Week a day-to-day conversation piece of all Houston residents.”
Lewis has always looked up to her older sister. Tumeka Lewis, too, finds her inspiration in her sister.
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it,” Tumeka dedicated Maya Angelou’s lines to her.
