The SouthCoast Community Foundation Board of Directors appointed Leonard M. Lee as the organization’s new president and CEO. Lee brings over 30 years of public, private, and nonprofit expertise, including leadership roles committed to advancing public health and advocating for historically underrepresented, marginalized communities. Lee is the fourth president to hold the position since the organization’s inception in 1995.
“We are thrilled to have a leader of Leonard’s caliber joining the Community Foundation,” stated Board Chair Linda Bodenmann. “His extensive management background and entrepreneurial spirit, combined with his passion for community service, make him the right leader for the organization and will serve our community well as he furthers the Foundation’s focus on education, economic opportunity, and elevating the arts.”
Lee comes to the Community Foundation from his post as general manager and curator for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and as a consultant to Kelley Chunn & Associates, an award-winning agency providing strategic communications and cause marketing for diversity, inclusion, and social change. Previously, Lee held senior leadership roles for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, addressing community health issues through youth programs such as violence prevention and Safe Spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and/or Allied (LGBTQIA+). He was also the Deputy Commissioner of Public Health for the State of Connecticut.
A native Bostonian who grew up in the Franklin Field Housing Development in Dorchester, Lee holds a degree in business management from Johnson & Wales University and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Boston University. Leonard is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., a father of three adult children, and a proud new grandfather. Lee plans to relocate to the South Coast region.
