Writer & Educator

Chisa Iwuagwu Lehane is a Los Angeles–based memoirist and essayist whose work explores family estrangement, mother-daughter relationships, sibling bonds, biracial identity, grief, and chosen family. Much of her writing draws from the journals she began keeping as a child, along with letters, photographs, newspaper archives, and family records spanning Nigeria and the United States.

She is currently writing a memoir about what happened to her family after her Nigerian father was murdered when she was six, and the childhood and adolescence that followed. Her essays and live storytelling examine the stories children create to survive the people they love—and what it takes, later, to understand those stories differently.

Alongside her writing, Chisa has spent more than two decades working in education in Los Angeles as a teacher and admissions professional. She currently serves as an Admission Advisor with Private School Axis, a nonprofit organization that helps families navigate independent-school admissions. She holds an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from the University of Connecticut and has worked extensively with children and families across Los Angeles public and independent schools.

Her work has appeared in Roots & Words from Iron Oak Editions and West Trade Review. She also performs work adapted from her memoir at live storytelling events in Los Angeles.