About Mary Lee

Mary M. Lee consults with community-based organizations, public officials, government agencies and philanthropy to dismantle racially biased systems and structures and build just and equitable neighborhoods. Her expertise includes research, strategic planning, technical assistance, and training. She has co-authored reports and journal articles on access to healthy food, the built environment, and the impact of place and race on health.

Most recently, Mary provided project management and development assistance to a regional initiative building leadership and power for young people of color. She was also part of a team supporting the work of the California Reparations Task Force and now provides project management for the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation and Truth. She is a former Deputy Director of PolicyLink, a national advocacy organization working to advance racial equity, economic and social justice.

A practicing attorney for over 30 years, Mary has experience using civil rights, land use and economic development strategies to revitalize neighborhoods and enhance public participation in the policy arena. She has focused on the legal rights of low-income people, particularly in the areas of affordable housing, job creation and redevelopment law.

Mary has been an adjunct professor of law and has developed and taught courses at the undergraduate and community college level on community development and civil rights. For more than ten years, she taught a class she designed on Fair Housing/Fair Lending regulations as part of the Mortgage Finance certificate program within the Los Angeles Community College District at L.A. Trade Technical College. In addition, Mary taught courses at the community college level on topics such as  Health Policy Advocacy, Health Leadership and Community Development, and Community Participatory Research.

Committed to public service, Mary participates in many community organizations and has been appointed to government bodies as well. She is currently the vice chair of the board of the Community Coalition. She recently stepped down from the Los Angeles Commission on Civil Rights where she served as vice chair of that group. She was also a member of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council Leadership Circle and a Transportation Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles. She was formerly a member of the Los Angeles County Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force In 2016, Mary was named by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Commission for Women as one of the “Women of the Year”. In 2019 she completed a Stanton Fellowship, awarded by the Durfee Foundation.

Mary is a native of Los Angeles, and holds a BA in Political Studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California and a JD from U.C. Berkeley School of Law.