Congresswoman Summer Lee is an organizer, attorney, and progressive legislator who was born and raised in the Mon Valley. She attended Woodland Hills public schools before graduating from Penn State and Howard University School of Law.
Lee worked as an organizer and led voter mobilization efforts for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party – including against Trump in 2016. In 2017, after repeated incidents of violence against students from police and administrators, Summer led a successful initiative to transform the Woodland Hills School Board. Then, she ran for State House, defeating a 20-year incumbent with over 67% of the vote and making history as the first Black woman from Western Pennsylvania in the legislature. There, she brought home millions for community revitalization and championed workers’ rights and environmental and racial justice.
In 2019, she co-founded UNITE, a grassroots organization that transformed regional politics by electing progressives at various levels, including Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor, Ed Gainey.
In 2022, Summer was elected to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th district, again making history as the first Black woman from Western Pennsylvania in Congress. In her first year, Lee brought home an unprecedented >$1 billion in federal investments for Western PA. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fuel clean manufacturing, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good-paying union jobs. Rep. Lee has also taken leadership positions in several caucuses.
Lee and her team have also delivered constituent services to over 1,600 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and Social Security to helping folks secure housing and helping families navigate the immigration system. Lee has partnered with Gov. Shapiro on no-cost breakfast for students, increasing teacher pay, and the first-in-the-nation workforce training program to invest $400 million in training and creation of 10,000 new jobs. In 2023, Lee passed $10.7 million worth of community project funding through committee, responded to over 20,000 constituents (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden), attended over 300 community events, is leading or co-leading 19 bills, and cosponsored 226 bills to address local issues ranging from cleaning our air and water to protecting abortion, combating gun violence, and fighting for voting rights, environmental justice, and Social Security.