Meet Marc
Marc Hunter Lewis is a San Marin High School graduate, , lifelong Novato Community Member and advocate for fiscal responsibility. Armed with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law, Marc has spent years researching municipal finance, school district governance, and development policy in Marin County. As a founding member of Novato Stewards, he helps lead citizen-driven efforts grounded in the belief that communities endure through attention and that real accountability and reform begin when residents stay informed and involved in local decision-making. Working with neighbors, he focuses on making complex government decisions and reform proposals understandable, encouraging collaboration, and strengthening a culture of transparency, responsiveness, and continuous improvement in local institutions
A Bit of Background
I have never known another home besides Novato. This community did not just shape me. It raised me.
I went through our schools from the beginning. Lu Sutton Elementary, class of 2000. Sinaloa Middle School. San Marin High School. The classrooms, the fields, the friendships. They are not memories at a distance. They are part of who I am.
I grew up in the places that hold a community together. From Miss Sandie's childcare to the Novato Youth Center, I spent my days in the care of people who believed in showing up for kids and for families. Through Boy Scout Troop 42, I learned what it means to serve. I made more luminarias than I can count, but what stayed with me was something deeper. Community is built by the people who keep showing up.
Wrestling gave me another kind of foundation. As a multiple-time MCAL champion wrestler, I learned discipline, resilience, and how to push through when things get difficult. Wrestling is not a sport where you can hide. It teaches you quickly that you are responsible for your effort, your preparation, and your response when things do not go your way. Those lessons have stayed with me long after I left the mat.
The most defining moment in my life came when my grandfather passed away. My grandmother needed help, and without hesitation, I left Novato and moved to Arkansas to take care of her. I attended the University of Arkansas so I could stay close, because family comes first. That was not a sacrifice. It was a responsibility, and one I was proud to take on.
At the University of Arkansas, I continued to step into roles that required accountability and trust. I served as a Justice on the Student Government Supreme Court and as the student commissioner on the University Conduct Board. In those roles, I saw firsthand how institutions function when they are working well, and how they fail when they are not. It was there that I developed a deep respect for transparency, fairness, and the responsibility of making decisions that affect other people's lives.
After graduating from the University of Arkansas, I received a scholarship to attend Emory University School of Law, where I earned my Juris Doctor with a specialization in transactional law and skills. My legal education focused on how laws and institutions shape the everyday realities of communities. After law school, I worked on projects that involved land use permitting and environmental review, navigating CEQA, county and state regulations, and coordinating with local and state agencies. That experience gave me a clear understanding of how our regulatory systems affect the pace and character of community growth.
Later, I taught in the Ukiah Unified School District as a long-term substitute teacher. I chose to work there because it was one of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged districts in Northern California, struggling with a shortage of teachers. I drove two hours each way because I believed those students deserved consistency and educators who would keep showing up for them. That experience reminded me that service takes many forms, and that investing in people, especially the next generation, is the foundation of any strong community.
That experience changed me. It grounded me. It reinforced something I learned growing up here in Novato. You step forward when people need you. You do the work. You take care of your own.
Novato has always been my home. It is where I was raised, where my values were formed, and where I learned what it means to be part of a community. Everything I have done since has been guided by that foundation. And it is why I have chosen to step forward again now.
I went through our schools from the beginning. Lu Sutton Elementary, class of 2000. Sinaloa Middle School. San Marin High School. The classrooms, the fields, the friendships. They are not memories at a distance. They are part of who I am.
I grew up in the places that hold a community together. From Miss Sandie's childcare to the Novato Youth Center, I spent my days in the care of people who believed in showing up for kids and for families. Through Boy Scout Troop 42, I learned what it means to serve. I made more luminarias than I can count, but what stayed with me was something deeper. Community is built by the people who keep showing up.
Wrestling gave me another kind of foundation. As a multiple-time MCAL champion wrestler, I learned discipline, resilience, and how to push through when things get difficult. Wrestling is not a sport where you can hide. It teaches you quickly that you are responsible for your effort, your preparation, and your response when things do not go your way. Those lessons have stayed with me long after I left the mat.
The most defining moment in my life came when my grandfather passed away. My grandmother needed help, and without hesitation, I left Novato and moved to Arkansas to take care of her. I attended the University of Arkansas so I could stay close, because family comes first. That was not a sacrifice. It was a responsibility, and one I was proud to take on.
At the University of Arkansas, I continued to step into roles that required accountability and trust. I served as a Justice on the Student Government Supreme Court and as the student commissioner on the University Conduct Board. In those roles, I saw firsthand how institutions function when they are working well, and how they fail when they are not. It was there that I developed a deep respect for transparency, fairness, and the responsibility of making decisions that affect other people's lives.
After graduating from the University of Arkansas, I received a scholarship to attend Emory University School of Law, where I earned my Juris Doctor with a specialization in transactional law and skills. My legal education focused on how laws and institutions shape the everyday realities of communities. After law school, I worked on projects that involved land use permitting and environmental review, navigating CEQA, county and state regulations, and coordinating with local and state agencies. That experience gave me a clear understanding of how our regulatory systems affect the pace and character of community growth.
Later, I taught in the Ukiah Unified School District as a long-term substitute teacher. I chose to work there because it was one of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged districts in Northern California, struggling with a shortage of teachers. I drove two hours each way because I believed those students deserved consistency and educators who would keep showing up for them. That experience reminded me that service takes many forms, and that investing in people, especially the next generation, is the foundation of any strong community.
That experience changed me. It grounded me. It reinforced something I learned growing up here in Novato. You step forward when people need you. You do the work. You take care of your own.
Novato has always been my home. It is where I was raised, where my values were formed, and where I learned what it means to be part of a community. Everything I have done since has been guided by that foundation. And it is why I have chosen to step forward again now.
