Lea is the Chief Operating Officer with the Baltimore Civic Fund. Lea most recently served as the Chief of Policy & Partnerships with the Mayor's Office of Children & Family Success, leading development of special initiatives and supporting priorities of the Baltimore Children's Cabinet.

Previously, Lea served as Vice President of Inspiration at Thread, where she was responsible for volunteer recruitment, fundraising to support the $5 million+ organizational budget, annual student enrollment, development of budget and spending policies, and ongoing data, analytics, tech systems, and operations. Prior to joining Thread, Lea worked in the Office of the Chief of Staff for Baltimore City Public Schools where she assisted in the development and implementation of a wide variety of district reform priorities. Lea began her career in education as a high school social studies teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools.

She holds a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Arts in Teaching, both from Johns Hopkins University. Her undergraduate studies were in political science at the University of Southern California. Lea lives near Patterson Park with her husband, Bill, and two children.