Hey there! I'm Lee, and my journey in the Twin Cities began in 2014 when I set out to pursue a degree in Geography at Macalester College. During my time there, I participated in the Urban Scholars Program with the City of Minneapolis, gaining a deeper understanding of how government agencies can perpetuate harm and inequities through the strategic use of political power and financial resources. This experience ignited my passion for supporting research that centers community knowledge and expertise to identify policies and practices that remedy and reconcile these harms.

After graduating from Macalester in 2018, I pursued a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning at UCLA, focusing on housing and community and economic development. My capstone research involved analyzing rental property locations and ownership characteristics in Minneapolis, combining spatial analysis and qualitative interviews to develop policy recommendations rooted in community needs.

Professionally, I have worked for an affordable housing finance agency in Portland, Oregon, where I supported housing policy analysis and program implementation through data analysis and visualization. In my current role at CURA, I lead the Kris Nelson Community-Based Research Program and the Public Policy Design Lab. Here, I match the research and technical needs of organizations with student research assistants and local artists to carry out community-defined and guided projects. I enjoy being able to support actionable research that values lived experience as expertise, bolsters the capacity of community leaders, and centers solutions grounded in community.

My work centers on the lived experiences of historically marginalized populations, aiming to build collective power and support effective cross-cultural collaborations. I believe that research is a form of storytelling that can illuminate underrepresented narratives and foster a deeper understanding of diverse experiences. I consciously avoid an over-reliance on quantitative data, instead focusing on qualifying lived experiences through narratives and stories. This approach allows me to more accurately represent the diverse and evolving identities within communities, capturing and visualizing experiences that can’t be easily measured.

I bring a justice-oriented lens to my research, ensuring that projects conducted with or at power institutions demand solutions and accountability for community-driven changes. By focusing on storytelling and community-defined metrics, I strive to develop evaluations that truly reflect the priorities and needs of the communities and organizations I work with.

Outside of my professional life, I enjoy exploring communities and geographies through their food. When I'm not at iPho by Saigon in St. Paul, you'll likely find me indulging in my pandemic-era hobby of rug tufting (see the “not work” tab).