Marisa Renee Lee is a called-upon advocate, writer, and speaker on coping with grief. In 2008, she lost her mother to breast cancer, in 2019 Marisa and her husband lost a much-wanted pregnancy, and most recently, she lost a young cousin to the COVID-19 pandemic. These losses transformed her life and led her to question what grief really is and what healing truly requires.

As a leading grief advocate, Marisa offers incisive and compassionate advice on managing life after loss with unique insights for women and African American communities. She recently partnered with Ritual's well-being app as a writer and narrator alongside other leaders in science, faith, and culture. Her first book, Grief Is Love: Living with Loss, was published in April 2022 under Hachette’s new imprint, Legacy Lit, and is already a national bestseller.

As a former appointee in the Obama White House, Marisa previously served as the Deputy Director of Private Sector Engagement, a Senior Advisor on the Domestic Policy Council, and as the Managing Director of the MBK Alliance, the nonprofit born out of President Obama's call to action to address the barriers to success that boys and young men of color disproportionately face in their lives. She is a rabble-rouser of social healing and currently serves as CEO of the social impact consulting firm Beacon Advisors, co-founder of the digital platform Supportal, and founder of The Pink Agenda, a national organization dedicated to raising money for breast cancer care, research, and awareness.

Lee is a public speaker and regular contributor to Glamour, Vogue, MSNBC, and The Atlantic. She is a graduate of Harvard College and lives in the DC area with her husband Matt, son Bennett, and dog Sadie.