American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Executive Director

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has selected Michael Lee to serve as Executive Director.

Mike Lee is a born and raised Philadelphian who founded Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE), a nonprofit legal aid firm that helped Pennsylvanians expunge their criminal records (a program that would later become a model for Pennsylvania's Clean Slate law) and worked to expand access to the governor's pardon powers.  

Mike left PLSE to join the Philadelphia district attorney's office as the director of government affairs. In that role, Mike connected grassroots movements, elected officials, and community organizations to transform what the public wants from a prosecutor and public safety. Most recently, Mike served as the chief of staff, where he focused on maintaining staff well-being, high morale, and improving the quality of work-life balance within the office. 

Mike graduated from George Washington University, where he studied communications. Mike was part of the inaugural class at the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law in 2006 and was a co-founder of an ACLU chapter there. Mike has been a longtime ACLU member, has served on the Philadelphia Chapter board, and has been mentored by his predecessor, Reggie Shuford.  

Ernest Brooks and Tiffany Weber led this search with Tiara Mack and Caroline Corry.