Lee’s interest in how land is used and cared for goes back to his years growing up on an Iowa farm where his dad followed conservation practices. Upon hearing of the Community Land Trust model, Lee quickly recognized the opportunity it gives for a community to hold land in trust for the greater good of a neighborhood, and to give households earning less than median incomes access to excellent homes along with an opportunity to build their assets.

In 1999, Lee began working with a nonprofit organization that brings together economics and spirituality, after pastoring congregations for 32 years in Chicago and Nebraska. He focuses on how lifestyles and the marketplace can require the resources of only one planet instead of the heated up consuming that currently requires four to five planets. He’s written a book about it, entitled, Blinded by Progress—Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, and is working on another. He and his spouse, Juanita, live in Lemon Grove. They have four adult children and five grandchildren; they love experiences in nature.