Lucas began her career as a 15-year-old intern at
Vibe magazine; at 17 she worked for radio station
KIIS-FM. In 2012, Lucas became publisher of arts magazine
Guernica. Reporting on Lucas's 2016 appointment to executive director of the National Book Foundation,
NBC said: "With Lucas at the forefront of the National Book Foundation and Awards, the future of publishing looks very bright."
The Los Angeles Times said Lucas "is clearly poised to bring the organization to a new level...ideally suited" to promote the foundation. She is the third director in the history of the foundation, "one of America’s key literary institutions," and the first woman and the first African-American to lead the organization. As executive director, she has publicly discussed the importance of inclusivity in publishing and reaching young readers. In July 2020, Lucas was named by
Knopf Doubleday as a senior vice president to serve as publisher of both
Pantheon Books and
Schocken Books. In her time in these roles, Lucas published
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s
Chain-Gang All Stars (a
National Book Award finalist), signed
LeVar Burton to a two-book deal, and was the first Black publisher for Pantheon, an 80-year-old imprint. In May 2024, Lucas and
Reagan Arthur were removed from their roles at the company as part of cost-cutting. ==References==