Lee Cortez

Lee Cortez, LMSW, SHRM-SCP, CDE®

Lee Cortez is a social worker, educator, and senior human resources leader whose work explores the intersection of organizations, work, and human well-being. He has taught at Columbia School of Social Work for more than a decade, including courses on the world of work and nonprofit financial management, and has served as a guest lecturer at Cambridge Judge Business School on topics including organizational behavior, culture, and leadership.

Lee currently serves as a senior HR leader at Kroll and has held leadership roles in the technology sectors, including at Google and Block. He holds an MS in Social Work from Columbia School of Social Work and an Executive MBA (Distinction) from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, where he was the inaugural recipient of the Dean’s Diversity Scholarship. He is also a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Cambridge.

His interests include the future of work, employee well-being, workplace inclusion, and how institutions respond to changing social policy environments and periods of social policy retrenchment. Through his teaching, research, and professional practice, Lee is inspired by the legacy of Professor Shelley Akabas and committed to creating “workplaces that work for all.”