Barbara Lee
Italiano Please! Ltd.
Barbara is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Italiano Please! Ltd., a family-run social enterprise that is a Micro-Business with a Mega-Mission.
Barbara was born in Rome but grew up right here in Calgary. Having returned in 2021 with the rest of the Italiano Please! team after 30 years in Italy, she is excited about bringing YYC a truly Roman food experience in an environment that champions diversity and favours inclusion.
Barbara has a professional background in the application of foreign policy abroad. Her work has been increasingly infused with attention to Accessibility, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion over the past 15 years, sparked by lived family experience and fuelled by the recognition that there is a pervasive need to engage with and empower marginalized and often under-represented individuals.
Passionate about Italy, inclusion and accessibility, she works with her teammates to build awareness throughout Calgary’s communities and to create spaces conducive to positive change.
