Lanaya Lewis

Public Information Officer, Sacramento State

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A few years ago, Lanaya Lewis suffered an unexpected and devastating loss, with the end of her pregnancy at 20 weeks. Besides the personal pain, the grief altered her professional plans. She had been a broadcast journalist on the East Coast, but the thought of returning to work and talking to people on-air during breaking news situations — often their own worst moments of life — no longer felt tenable. 

The experience led her to where she is today, as a public information officer for Sacramento State. 

Lewis, now 30, grew up in the Bay Area, where she says she used to get into trouble. “I actually ended up getting arrested when I was in middle school, and I ended up being on probation,” she says. “I never thought about college. I never thought about anything like that. I just pretty much played sports — basketball, volleyball.” 

“I learned about public relations and from there, I was like, oh my goodness, this is so much fun. I don’t have to be in front of the camera, but I’m still helping people tell their stories.”
 

But her probation officer gave her a key piece of advice: Get involved with a youth radio program in downtown Oakland. That experience ultimately led her down the journalism path. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Norfolk State University in Virginia, fulfilling her goal of attending a historically Black college or university. She also earned a master’s degree in journalism from Regent University. She got her professional start as an assignment editor in Norfolk, then worked as a reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, and later as a reporter in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

In 2021, after her pregnancy loss, Lewis moved to Roseville, and then decided to enter the communications field and worked as a remote freelance publicist for a small agency based in Rochester, New York. “I learned about public relations and from there, I was like, oh my goodness, this is so much fun,” Lewis says. “I don’t have to be in front of the camera, but I’m still helping people tell their stories.”

She began her first full-time job as a communications specialist at the Downtown Sacramento Partnership in August 2022. She focused on email marketing, helped spearhead the Dine Downtown Program and created and launched the first Sunset Sips program before leaving in July 2023 for the PIO job at Sacramento State, which she started right around when incoming President Luke Wood joined the campus.

As a PIO, she acts as a spokesperson for the university, staying in-the-know with everything happening. She is a liaison for the media and college administration, especially if there’s a breaking news incident or a crisis, or to share good news too. During her tenure, media mentions of the university have increased by 12 percent, and positive coverage has risen by 34 percent under her leadership, according to Michelle Willard, Sac State chief of external affairs.

Additionally, she played a pivotal role in the launch of Sacramento State’s Black Honors College, which will offer all students who are interested “a comprehensive curriculum focusing on the Black and African American experience,” according to a press release. President Wood brought Lewis onto the BHC leadership team with the request that she help get the message out about the new initiative. She’s also been working with colleagues on developing the social experience of the program, which will start accepting students this fall.

“Because I went to an HBCU … I know the importance and the significance of having a community around you that looks like you and also have the support of staff with faculty members who are actually wanting you to succeed and graduate,” Lewis says.

When not engaged at Sac State or spending time with her 2-year-old son Kayden, her “rainbow baby,” as she says, Lewis is running her own boutique public relations firm, Lanaya Enterprises. Launched in 2022, she helps groups learn how to tell their stories and pitch themselves to the media. For instance, she assisted one family that started a Stockton-based autism awareness organization in getting media coverage. 

“I will say that has had to be my biggest accomplishment so far — creating my business and helping others,” Lewis says.

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