Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz
Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz works with communities and schools across the US to truly solve poverty and heal trauma. She does this by helping brilliant and caring leaders create sustainable ecosystems of resilience through building better relationships. Rebecca fought her way out of poverty and the trailer park in 2011 with three young sons. A local poverty resolution project found Rebecca and activated her journey. She later went to work for that non-profit and then went on to build multiple projects like it to help more families. In 2015 She started working with public education and ignited a trauma-informed schools movement in her state and beyond. Rebecca experienced a lifetime of trauma and poverty, and through access to buffering relationships, she healed from both and continues to light the path for others. Additionally, Rebecca and her team have partnered with Youth Core Ministries out of Greensburg, Kansas, to establish and sustain poverty resolution projects across Kansas and Illinois. Currently, they are working with over 200 families who are systematically building their paths out of poverty. Rebecca is widely known in Kansas and across the United States for her extensive work building trauma-informed schools. She is a captivating presenter, and her lived experience of escaping poverty when she was 40 years old, with three young children, invites people into her undeniable experience of healing, hope, and restoration.