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  • Leonard Lee

Leonard M. Lee

Commissioner, Boston Human Rights Commission

Mr. Leonard M. Lee is currently the General manager and curator of the Melnea Cass recreational complex and the Roxbury Heritage State park in Roxbury, and formerly Division Director of Violence and Injury Prevention at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, overseeing a $30 million budget. Under his leadership, he manages four units to include: Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention, Child and Youth Violence Prevention, Suicide Prevention Program, and Injury Prevention and Control Program. Prior to taking on the senior managerial role at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Mr. Lee served the Commonwealth as the Unit Manager of Child and Youth Violence Prevention. This role included managing the following programs: Shaken Baby Syndrome, Youth Violence Prevention, and Safe Spaces for GLBTQ Youth.

Last year, Lee founded “Masking the Community,” an ongoing effort to provide masks to under-served communities which have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 2020, he had raised just under $150,000 and, to date, has given out over 350,000 masks. As a result of these efforts, Lee has become known as the “Mask Man.”

Mr. Lee’s commitment to public health transcended to the State of Connecticut, serving as the former Deputy Commissioner of Public Health overseeing $100 million budget. In this capacity, he oversaw Injury and Violence Prevention as well as several other departments. Before working at a state agency, Mr. Lee has been an Executive Director at a number of nonprofits throughout the Boston area, such as the Roxbury YMCA, ABCD, Inc., Dorchester Neighborhood Service Center, Odwin Learning Center, and the Wang Theater. In addition to serving the Commonwealth, he is an avid ski instructor, musician, and an Urban Beekeeper home of Ruth soulful Bees. He also serves on a number of community boards, committees, and commissions.

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