Kristi Lee, Ph. D.

Kristi Lee is an Associate Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Seattle University. In her role, she teaches a human development course using service-learning and has collaborated on over 70 community-based projects with students and community partners. Kristi is the director of the Academic Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program which trains faculty in the pedagogy of service-learning. In addition, Kristi serves on the leadership team of the SU ADVANCE grant that is working to bring equity to faculty promotion guidelines for women and faculty of color. Dr. Lee’s conducts interdisciplinary, intercultural research on gender-based violence in Guatemala in collaboration with faculty at Rafael Landivar, the Jesuit university in Guatemala. While training and mentoring students as researchers, she collaborates with the city of Seattle on research focused on hate crimes. Other scholarly areas of focus include the promotion of community-based teaching, learning, and scholarship throughout higher education. Dr. Lee is a therapist and Fellow at MEND Seattle, a social justice mental health organization. 

Lee earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the College of William and Mary. Her dissertation research focused on preparing counseling students with social justice advocacy skills through the use of service-learning. Her master’s degree in mental health counseling was earned at Idaho State University, where she worked with clients who were incarcerated and moving through the justice system as well as clients at the Boise State University student counseling center. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Kansas State University in psychology with a clinical emphasis. While there, she worked at a shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children.