When Felicia Lewis and her partner, Ruth Jacks, met the three young girls who would become their adopted daughters, the connection was instant. The
Lewis and Jacks, who have been together for 15 years, have long known they
"The children had recently been displaced from their birth parents and they were staying with relatives," Lewis says. "We showed up, and it probably took about 15 minutes before they adopted us."
Lewis is a Dallas-based managing director and division executive with Bank of America. Having been with the company for 13 years, she's seen many colleagues utilize the company's adoption offerings, and knew they would be beneficial as she started down the long path to adopt the girls, who are now seven, nine, and 10. After their initial meeting, she and Jacks spent three years traveling back and forth to Illinois for visits, and eventually arranged to bring the girls to Dallas for a month to make sure that they were all truly ready to become a family. In 2020, the girls made the long-awaited permanent move to Texas, following the court's granting of Lewis and Jacks' petition to become their foster parents with the intent to adopt.
"I've seen so many children displaced, particularly in the Black and Brown community," Lewis says. "It hits that community harder, because once those children are displaced, they're less likely to be adopted and placed in a forever home. Life is already hard, and my better half and I both knew we had plenty to give."
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Bank of America has a long history of supporting its employees who choose to adopt — it has been on the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's list of 100 most adoption-friendly companies for over a decade. The financial institution provides employees with up to $20,000 to help cover costs associated with
"[There] are travel expenses and tons of legal fees," Lewis says. "We adopted out of foster care, — the least expensive way to adopt — so the component that I used for the legal fees was quite beneficial. Our fees were right at $5,000, and the bank reimburses for that."
All of the mothers' efforts were rewarded, when, on August 16, 2023, the girls' adoption was finalized. Lewis chose the date in honor of her late mother's birthday, and she, Jacks and their daughters now refer to it as their new family's birthday as well. Sharing in the joy, coworkers have sent gifts such as initialed blankets for each child and a family tree.
"While before we treated them like ours, they were still wards of the court," Lewis says. "The first time my sister heard them call me 'Mom,' she broke down in tears because for the past three years she heard them call me 'Aunt Felicia.' For her to hear them call me 'Mom' is pretty cool."
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In addition to financial assistance, Bank of America's benefits include access to family-planning support through Maven Clinic, which provides virtual parenting and back-to-work programs. Extended parental leave is also accessible, including 16 weeks of paid leave and 10 additional unpaid weeks. Lewis plans to use her parental PTO when she and her family relocate from Dallas to Atlanta this year, taking time off to set up their new home and get the girls settled in school.
"It's recognizing that it's not just one piece — we look at emotional and financial wellness," says Brandt Bennet, a global HR benefits executive at Bank of America. "We get feedback all the time from different programs, whether [the benefit] was able to make it more affordable, or allowed time away from work to focus on an adopted or new child coming in, or just knowing that support is there through Maven — we're trying to make a difference with these benefits and really help our teammates and their families."
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Lewis notes that alongside the adoption benefits that are offered to BofA employees, the compassionate culture that exists within the company has been an irreplaceable part of her experience.
"My boss was announcing an organizational change on a national call, and before he announced that change, he celebrated me and my family on the call because we'd adopted the week before," she says. "The outpouring of support we've received from my direct leadership as well as around the bank — you can't put a price tag on it."
