Carla Lewis is Canopy Children’s Solutions’ (Canopy) Chief Transformation Officer. In her previous role as Senior Director of Digital Transformation, she has the privilege of blending strategy with progress, using technology to create smarter systems, empowering the team through meaningful data, and driving digital solutions that help serve children and families even better. Lewis leads Digital Solutions, Innovation and Growth, Digital Transformation, and the Project Management Office areas. She has more than 29 years of technology, strategy, management, and leadership experience.
Prior to Canopy, Lewis spent 21 years at C Spire. She rose through the ranks to become Chief Technology Officer (CTO). She was responsible for all aspects of information technology operations, network operations and customer operations, including software development for sales and service, product delivery, and billing, call centers, core network, data centers, and engineering/development. She led the building and delivery of innovative technological transformation and growth opportunities for all lines of business through automation, reliable networks, and industry best customer experiences.
Under Lewis’ leadership, C Spire was named a top technology innovator by InformationWeek for three years. This includes InformationWeek’s Elite 100 rankings. C Spire was the top-ranked telecommunications provider in the U.S. on the list. Also, under her leadership, C Spire was named Top Technology Company by the Mississippi Business Journal for two years.
In addition to CTO, Lewis led the workforce development portion of the C Spire Tech Movement initiative with a focus on technology education and getting more young people in software development and IT jobs. This initiative touched thousands of youths across Mississippi. She has a passion for technology education and believes that all youth should be exposed to and taught computer science and coding skills. Those skills are essential to their future livelihood. Lewis successfully created and led the C Spire Coding Challenge (C3) and C3 Jr (with the Mississippi Children’s Museum) events and those have had a great impact on all students who attend.
In 2018, she was named as one of the Magnolia State’s Top in Tech leaders by the Mississippi Business Journal, the state’s largest business publication. In 2019, she was named one of Mississippi’s Most Influential African Americans by the Our Mississippi Honors organization and Top Minority Business Leader by the Delta Business Journal. In 2020, she was named the winner of the Ada Lovelace Award – Software Engineer Category, which celebrates women across the Gulf South who have made an impact in their local tech community. In 2021, she was named one of the Mississippi’s 50 Leading Business Women by the Mississippi Business Journal.
Lewis has been dedicated to non-profits for many years. She serves on the boards of the Junior League of Jackson and the Mississippi Children’s Museum. Lewis was appointed as the Technology Chair on the Governor’s Commission for Economic Recovery.
Lewis lives in Brandon with her husband, Richard, and guardian daughters Breana and Deja. She earned her degree in Mathematics/Computer Science from Mississippi College. She is actively involved with her local church, True Vine Baptist Church, where she leads and serves in various ministries.
