Finalist: Michael David Lewis

(Nate Ryan)

SVP/General Counsel & Chief Corporate Development Office
American Public Media Group
UC Berkeley School of Law

Michael Lewis went to law school on a mission to practice entertainment law, an area of practice he was introduced to by his aunt who was a prominent executive in the American ballet community. After graduating from a joint program from law schools at UC Berkeley and Harvard, Lewis moved back to L.A. and eventually wound up at Warner Bros. Studios for over 10 years. In 2018, he accepted his current position as SVP/ general counsel and chief corporate development officer for American Public Media Group (APMG), which is the parent company of Southern California Public Radio (KPCC|89.3) and the NPR program Marketplace.

The role enables Lewis to use his law degree to advance both legal and business strategies of APMG’s public mission of audience service, especially those aimed at improving the diverse lives of Angelenos, and as they say at KPCC, telling L.A. stories to the world.