Elissa Lee, OTD, OTR: OT in Community Engagement

In this episode, we will learn from Elissa Lee, OTD, OTR, an occupational therapist whose work is redefining what community health can look like at scale. Dr. Lee is the Director and Senior Advisor of Community Engagement for California Volunteers in the Office of the Governor, where she leads the Neighbor-to-Neighbor initiative. It’s all about building social connection across communities and as OT practitioners, we know that connection isn’t just nice to have, it’s essential to health, resilience, and belonging. This conversation is a real reflection of Uncommon OT in action. Dr. Lee’s work lives at the intersection of public health, policy, and community-based programming, leading national mental health campaigns with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, and designing programs around chronic care, CalAIM, and homelessness prevention. We talk about what it actually looks like to take the OT lens beyond traditional settings and apply it at a systems level, where the impact can reach entire communities. Dr. Lee’s work is a reminder that OT belongs everywhere, especially in the spaces where community, connection, and health intersect.

What we get into:

• Social connection as a core occupation

• How OTs can show up in public health and policy spaces

• Designing programs that meet people where they are

• Addressing real-world barriers like chronic illness and housing instability

• What Uncommon OT really looks like in practice