Kye Lee is a Senior Advisor at Insight Strategic Partners, where he draws on years of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors to advise clients on land use, permitting, housing, regulatory policy, and government operations.
Before joining Insight, Kye held several senior leadership roles at the City of Seattle. He helped create and later led a first-of-its-kind citywide effort that brought together departments involved in permitting and customer service to shorten permit timelines and improve how the City serves residents and businesses.
As Interim Director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, Kye guided the department through a period of transition and a major reorganization. As a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Mayor, he served as one of the Mayor’s lead advisors on land use, permitting, housing, and regulatory policy. He was also the primary liaison to several City departments, including Finance and Administrative Services and Seattle IT. He developed and helped pass several major pieces of legislation.
Prior to his time at the City, Kye spent more than a decade in nonprofit and higher education fundraising. He founded a consulting practice serving mission-driven organizations across the Seattle area. He also led corporate and foundation relations at the University of Memphis and was a major gifts officer at Rhodes College. He began his career in Accenture’s federal government practice in Washington, D.C.
Kye holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in government from Georgetown University. He serves on the Board of Directors of Epiphany School and is a former board member and current volunteer with the University District Food Bank.
Kye lives in Seattle, where he is happily outnumbered by his wife and two daughters.