Community
OUR COMMITMENT
Community involvement is central to our culture at Lewis. Our corporate giving and employee charitable contribution matching programs encourage personal engagement, and many of our employees provide volunteer leadership for local non-profit organizations.
INVESTING IN TOMORROW
Lease Crutcher Lewis Foundation
Our foundation activates the collective resources of our employees and partners to improve our communities, all in support of our purpose, vision and values. Since its inception in 2021, the Lease Crutcher Lewis Foundation has committed more than $500,000 to our nonprofit partners. The initial focus is investing in scholarships supporting historically underrepresented people in the construction industry, as well as non-profits that help build a more diverse workforce for the industry.
LEAVING A LEGACY
Each year, the Lewis Foundation's employee-led advisory committee awards funds to local nonprofits aligned with our guiding principles and key focus areas.
In 2025, the list of local nonprofits includes Girls Build, Portland YouthBuilders, Constructing Hope, Sawhorse Revolution, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC), and YouthCare’s YouthBuild Program. The committee has also funded scholarships at the University of Washington, Edmonds College, Lane Community College and Portland Community College.
Beyond funding, Lewis contributes through service events, mentorship, and feedback for program participants. We are also deeply engaged in pre-apprenticeship programs to help address the skilled labor shortage in the trades.
FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Meet the scholars shaping construction’s future.
Lewis Foundation scholarship recipient Gabe Nuñez-Sanchez is a recent graduate of Edmonds College’s two-year construction management program. As a first-generation college student, Gabe says his family wasn’t sure what to expect when he told them about going to Edmonds College. Now, he has his eyes set on a few different career trajectories after transferring to the University of Washington: working in commercial concrete, commercial interiors, or in real estate development.
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FOUNDATION PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
“Support from Lease Crutcher Lewis is vital for training the next generation of young people in entering the trades who would otherwise not have a chance to go. Lease Crutcher Lewis is a true partner in our work.”
- Tonia Kovtunovich, Development Director, Portland YouthBuilders
Read more(Link opens in new window)GROWING THE TALENT PIPELINE
We are deeply committed to addressing the skilled labor shortage in the trades by actively engaging with pre-apprenticeship programs like Seattle-based ANEW and other industry nonprofits.
ANEW is anchored by a 12-week program that provides safety, technical, and physical training three days a week. Graduates are better positioned for union acceptance and often receive preferential job dispatches, helping them bypass typical entry barriers en route to great living-wage jobs. ANEW focuses on recruiting women, formerly incarcerated individuals, and people of color to broaden the construction industry’s talent pool.
In addition to providing funding, Lewis field leaders help promising ANEW participants find work on Lewis projects and write recommendation letters to help them get direct entry into unions. Additionally, we actively collaborate with ANEW by participating in mock union interviews, allowing participants to better prepare for the real thing.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Building a Future in Construction
Maya Berns-Janousek works as foreman at Lewis, managing subcontractors and leading teams of up to 100 workers on complex projects. But her path to construction wasn’t traditional. Through training and support from Oregon Tradeswomen and Lewis, she joined a union, entered an apprenticeship, and launched her career here.
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SUPPORTING OBLITERIDE
Since Obliteride’s inception in 2013, Lewis teams have raised more than $1.5 million—more than any other corporate team—to support Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s groundbreaking work in cancer prevention, treatment, and cures.
Around Town
A look at Lewis' impact in the community.
Building Futures: Farm-to-Table Learning in Seattle’s Central District
Last week, a volunteer crew from Lewis joined forces with Sawhorse Revolution staff to install cedar tongue-and-groove siding at Cherry Street Farm, where a future demonstration kitchen is taking shape.
Once complete, this kitchen will support a 320-square-foot hydroponic growing lab for vegetables operated by Hip Hop is Green, all on a 5,000-square-foot residential lot in Seattle’s Central District.
Here, local youth will gain hands-on experience learning how to grow and prepare food from farm to table. The aim is creating healthier communities by promoting culturally relevant eating to Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color ages 12 to 20.
It’s always a joy to team up with Sawhorse Revolution, a key Lewis Foundation partner, which empowers teens by teaching them carpentry and architecture.
2024 Lewis Scholarship Recipients: Gabriel Nuñez-Sanchez and Hattie Zhang
The Lease Crutcher Lewis Foundation is now in its third year of making grants and scholarship awards, activating the collective resources of our employees and partners to improve our communities.
The foundation supports historically underrepresented people in the construction industry and non-profits that help build a more diverse workforce for the industry.
Below, meet 2024 Scholarship recipients Gabriel (Gabe) Nuñez-Sanchez and Hattie Zhang, both soon-to-be graduates of Edmonds College’s two-year construction management program.
Reflecting on Obliteride 2023
With a steady rain falling and the days getting ever shorter, it’s hard to believe that Obliteride was held on a balmy weekend just four months ago. In addition to those on the Lewis & Friends team who took to their bikes, walked, ran, donated, or otherwise participated, 23 volunteers also helped make the day a success.
2023 proved to be a record-breaking year for Obliteride, with teams collectively raising more than $8 million for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
Since the first event 11 years ago, Lewis participants have raised nearly $1.2 million to help Fred Hutch accelerate leading-edge research and urgently needed advances in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and cures.
Learn more about Obliteride’s impact in the annual report, release in late November.