At the ELA annual meeting in November 2010, Shirley Lewis explained the work of the Older Women's Network in Toronto. OWN strives to empower women to overcome injustices and inequities of gender in the home, the workplace and in society at large. Shirley outlined the organization's history, its current (2010) activities, and the issues it tries to address. Her twelve-minute presentation took place in 2010 at the Northern Branch of Toronto Public Library and was uploaded to Youtube.

In her post-retirement years, Shirley Lewis spent time with the Volunteer Service Overseas in Ethiopia for about five years. During this period, she worked in Jimma, Gondar, and other smaller rural places. At Gondar, she worked in a medical school library. Shirley also recounted that she often checked on the welfare of street kids in the country's capital, Addis Ababa. Her talk was recorded and uploaded to YouTube in 2010 and lasts for fifteen minutes. ELA members appreciated her work and made a small donation to assist with library work in Ethiopia.