Dr. Stuart Lewis was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1961, when he was a young boy. In 1974 he graduated from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lewis practiced surgery in Brooklyn before becoming the Medical Director for the New York City Transit Authority, where he served for thirteen years. At the time of the interview, Dr. Lewis held a private practice. Prior to starting medical school, Dr. Lewis helped found Youth in Action, a youth anti-poverty organization. From 1966 to 1969 he was the Director of the Neighborhood Youth Corps, a component of Youth in Action. A longstanding community organizer and philanthropist, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Restoration from 1997 to 2000.