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. She is a former Deputy Director of PolicyLink, a national advocacy organization working to advance racial equity, economic and social justice.

During her tenure at PolicyLink, Mary provided research, strategic planning, technical assistance and training to public and private agencies collaborating to build healthy communities. 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.

A practicing attorney for over 25 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, utilizing her expertise in affordable housing, job creation and redevelopment law. Further, she 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.

Mary has served as a Transportation Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles and is currently a member of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. She recently completed a term on the Los Angeles County Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force, and is a board member of the Community Coalition. 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”, and she was recently awarded a Stanton Fellowship 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.