Leigh Davis, the State Representative for the 3rd Berkshire District, is an advocate for housing that is affordable, education and healthcare that are accessible, and protecting the environment. She is a fighter for working families, veterans, seniors, small businesses and farms, and historically vulnerable and underserved communities.

 

A staunch supporter of unions and workers, Leigh served as a proud member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG), IATSE Local 700, and The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI). A former film and television editor in Los Angeles, tenured lecturer, and Department Chair of the Film and Television program at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland, Leigh relocated to Great Barrington with her three children in 2009. She enrolled them in Berkshire Hills public schools and started volunteering for local groups, including HospiceCare in the Berkshires, Volunteers in Medicine, People’s Pantry, and Great Barrington Land Conservancy.

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Leigh quickly established herself as a prominent figure in the Berkshire nonprofit and business sectors. She served on the Development Committee of Volunteers in Medicine, was appointed to the Board of Directors for Saint James Place, and worked as the Marketing Director for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. In 2018, she became the Director of Development for Eagle Mill in the Town of Lee, where she played a key role in the $80 million revitalization of the historic 1808 paper mill. In this capacity, she successfully secured millions in federal and state funding, along with historic tax credits, for this transformative mixed-use project.

 

Leigh’s career in local politics began on the Great Barrington Finance Committee in 2013, followed by election to the Great Barrington Selectboard in 2019. She was appointed Vice Chair of the Economic Development Committee in 2020, serving in that role for two years. She completed her fourth year as Vice Chair of the Great Barrington Selectboard in 2024, serving also as Chair of the Selectboard & Planning Board Housing Subcommittee, a member of the Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force and Community Preservation Committee, and as the Selectboard liaison to the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee.

Prior to becoming State Representative, Leigh worked as the Communications Director at Construct, the largest and longest-running affordable nonprofit in the Southern Berkshires. Hired in 2020 to raise Construct's profile and enhance and expand its fundraising efforts, she played a pivotal role in securing the acquisition of the Windflower Inn for workforce housing, using her expertise to foster economic development. Leigh also spearheaded the successful three-year BUILD campaign, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate Construct's transformation into the Construct Center for Affordable Housing. She collaborated closely with financial partners Greylock Federal Credit Union, and the dedication of the Center took place in September 2024. 

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She has served as a Board Director at 1Berkshire and on the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 Advisory Council and Berkshire Leadership Impact Council, which are tasked with guiding the region's ambitious ten-year strategic roadmap.

 

Leigh has been very active in the community on many issues:

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• Advocating for Local Control: Just two months into her term on the Selectboard, Leigh uncovered a loophole in a pending horseracing bill that threatened residents' rights. She took the fight to the State House, ensuring that Great Barrington maintained local control over its own affairs. READ HERE: Article 1.  Article 2
   

• Championing Workforce Housing: When two local business owners' plans for workforce housing were in jeopardy, Leigh took action to help bring their vision to life. South County now has 13 additional units of workforce housing. READ HERE 
   

• Protecting Housing from Predatory Corporations: Seeing the threat of corporations converting much-needed housing for residents into vacation rentals, Leigh crafted a short-term rental bylaw and fought hard to get it passed, helping to safeguard the community’s housing stock. READ HERE
   

• Improving Safety Near Schools: When parents raised concerns about a dangerous intersection near Monument Mountain Regional High School, Leigh successfully lobbied the state Department of Transportation to install a new safety system, making the area safer for students, families, and staff.
  READ HERE.

 

• Advocating for Lee: When GE refused to meaningfully discuss using rail and hydraulic pumping in their proposed transportation plan to clean up the UDF (Upland Disposal Facility), Leigh advocated for Lee residents, successfully persuading the Great Barrington Selectboard to support the Town of Lee's request to release the Rest of River executive session.  READ HERE (1) READ HERE (2) READ HERE (3)
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Leigh was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in a biracial household in Maryland, just beyond the District line. Her parents, Lloyd and Mary Kay, instilled in her a deep commitment to service and justice. Leigh proudly follows in their footsteps as an active public servant. Her mother, Mary Kay, served for over 20 years as the dedicated assistant to Sargent Shriver, the visionary founder of the Peace Corps, Job Corps, and Special Olympics. Her father, Lloyd, was a civil rights activist, a senior fair housing advisor at HUD, and a Korean War veteran, widely recognized as the architect of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday.

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Leigh is a solo parent who has raised her three children entirely on her own. Her youngest daughter, a Monument Mountain Regional High School graduate, is now a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Her son, a recent UMass Amherst graduate, works at Moderna, advancing life-saving vaccines and therapeutics. Leigh’s older daughter is a senior at George Washington University, studying Political Science.

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Leigh has a Bachelor of Science degree from Ithaca College and a Master of Arts from the National University of Ireland, Galway.