The Power To Create A Movement

Sonia Lewis is founder of The Student Loan Doctor.

By Sonia Lewis

Early in my career, I watched brilliant, educated women—particularly Black women in public service—do everything “right” and still fall behind. They earned degrees, accepted lower-paying service roles, showed up for their communities, and were rewarded with crushing student loan debt that quietly shaped every career decision they made. Promotions were declined. Homeownership was delayed. Entrepreneurship felt impossible. Yet in workplaces, student loan debt was treated as a personal failure rather than a systemic inequity.

The moment I realized this silence was costing people their futures, I spoke up.

I began asking uncomfortable questions in rooms where finances were never supposed to be discussed. Why weren’t employers educating staff on loan forgiveness programs tied to public service? Why was financial wellness framed as budgeting tips while ignoring six-figure debt? 

When the answers fell flat, I took action.

I built a platform dedicated to student loan education and advocacy, partnering with organizations, employers, and institutions to normalize these conversations in the workplace. I helped employees reclaim tens of millions of dollars through forgiveness pathways that already existed—but were inaccessible due to lack of information. More importantly, I helped shift culture: from shame to strategy, from silence to solutions.

I am also continuously doing the internal work—challenging my own beliefs about worth, power, and rest—so I do not replicate the same systems I aim to dismantle.

Change, I’ve learned, is not always loud. Sometimes it is persistent. Sometimes it is policy. Sometimes it is telling the truth in rooms that benefit from quiet.

I use my power by translating complexity into clarity, advocating for those who were never taught the rules, and insisting that equity includes financial freedom—not just representation.

That is how I create movement.

Sonia Lewis is the founder of The Student Loan Doctor. @thestudentloandoctor ; https://www.doctorpleasehelpme.com/