Her Story
About Makissa
Makissa Lewis owns a nonprofit organization called SEESTER (S-E-E-S-T-E-R, which means 'I see you') that provides advocacy, services, and resources to female veterans in the South Florida area. She started this organization because when she came out of the military from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, there were not a lot of resources for female veterans - it was more catered to the male veteran coming back. Her military background was in logistics, where she ordered parts and made sure vehicles got where they needed to go. She is very into structure from start to finish and can see the big picture. However, she decided she did not want to do logistics when she got out of the military because that is very lonely - you do not see people when they are on the way out or coming back in, you do not see them in between. She found that kind of impersonal, so she wanted to be where the people are. Now, she is focused on making sure the ones who come after her have it better, and she is working on helping female veterans recognize that their service did matter and building up their identity as veterans.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Makissa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I look at it from my mom's lens, she's retired and wants to enjoy her days, and I want the world to be better so she can rest easy. On the other point, what drives me is my niece. She's coming up. I want to be an example for her, that if you work hard, this is what you can aspire to, and you can do better than me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Have some mentors. Don't do it by yourself, because you go further with a group with you, backing you. So whether you're trying to go back to school, whether you're trying to have a business, whatever you're doing, just have some mentors that you can rely on. And lean on them, and be able to be leaned on when your time comes. I had the nonprofit, the idea, but I needed a whole village behind me to help me find information. And I found that helped. And I found that once I was able to, they could lean on me, so that's what I would recommend.
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