Leigh Davis is the first woman elected to represent the 3rd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She is a strong advocate for affordable and accessible housing, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. Leigh champions working families and farmers, small businesses and entrepreneurs, and veterans and their families. A dedicated supporter of arts and culture, she amplifies the voices of historically underserved communities and works to build a Commonwealth where everyone has the opportunity to lead a safe, healthy, and dignified life.
 

A longtime supporter of unions and workers, Leigh was a proud member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) and the Teachers' Union of Ireland. She is also a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators.

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From Lived Experience to Legislative Action

As a solo parent of three, Leigh understands what it means to struggle—she relied on WIC and SNAP, navigated mental health challenges, and worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over her family’s head, including starting her own errand service business to support seniors. Those experiences fuel her determination to craft policies that reflect the real lives of working people.

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After more than a decade of teaching in Ireland, Leigh returned to the U.S. with her children in 2009. While passing through Great Barrington on New Year’s Eve, she got caught in a snowstorm—and something about the place stayed with her. A year later, she moved back for good. With no job, no family, no friends, and no safety net, it was a leap of faith. But it marked the beginning of a new chapter rooted in resilience, community, and possibility—values that have shaped her work ever since.

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A Proven Record of Getting Things Done

In her first year as State Representative, Leigh was named a “Lawmaker to Watch” by The Boston Globe, a “Politician to Watch in 2025” by MassLive, and featured in State House News. She also spoke on the “Women Leaders Driving Change” panel at the Health Equity Summit, sponsored by Sanofi and The Boston Globe.
 

Leigh filed legislation to improve the state’s EMS system, strengthen age-of-consent protections, and update Massachusetts’ outdated “upskirting” law—giving prosecutors clearer tools to protect privacy and support survivors. She also introduced bills to expand rural microtransit, accelerate local bridge repairs, support school regionalization efforts, and establish a farm-to-institution pilot program to strengthen local food systems and support Massachusetts farmers. A strong advocate for public education, Leigh has been a vocal supporter of the Monument Mountain High School renovation project.

These efforts—developed in partnership with local leaders and community stakeholders—aim to close legal gaps, improve access to transportation and education, and strengthen support systems for families across the Commonwealth.

She has testified before multiple legislative committees and continues to advocate for practical, equitable policy rooted in lived experience.

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Career in Film & Television

Before entering public service, Leigh built a successful career in film and television. From 1990 to 1998, she lived in Los Angeles and worked her way up from production assistant to apprentice editor to full editor. She was a proud member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) and contributed to major studio productions at Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, Amblin, DreamWorks, and others.

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Her work included network television, such as editing for Law & Order. After relocating to Ireland, Leigh edited three feature films for legendary producer Roger Corman at Concorde Studios in Galway, continuing her creative career internationally.
 

Her industry experience eventually led her to academia, where she became a tenured lecturer and Chair of the Department of Film and Television at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

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Economic Development & Housing Leadership

Leigh has long been a force behind transformative community projects. As Director of Development for the $80 million revitalization of Eagle Mill in Lee, she secured millions in federal and state funding for a project that combines historic preservation with affordable housing, commercial space, and job creation.

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As Communications Director at Construct—the Berkshires’ largest affordable housing nonprofit—Leigh led the successful three-year BUILD campaign and helped secure the Windflower Inn for workforce housing. She also supported a microtransit pilot program to support working families with reliable transportation.

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Leigh has served as Marketing Director of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, advisor to the Berkshire Busk! street festival, and a board member of Saint James Place. She shaped regional strategy through leadership roles on the 1Berkshire Board, the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 Advisory Council, and the Berkshire Leadership Impact Council.

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Local Leadership, Statewide Vision

Leigh’s public service began on the Great Barrington Finance Committee in 2013. She was elected to the Selectboard in 2019, serving two terms as Vice Chair, where she led efforts on housing, infrastructure, economic development, and environmental protection.

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She authored a comprehensive short-term rental bylaw to protect local housing, partnered with parents and MassDOT to improve safety near schools, and pushed for greater local input, and accountability in the GE Housatonic River cleanup. Leigh brings that same focus—on collaboration, common-sense solutions, and community voice—to her work at the State House.

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Family and Foundations

Leigh was born in Washington, D.C., and raised just outside the city in a biracial household rooted in public service. Her mother, Mary Kay, spent over 20 years as assistant to Sargent Shriver, founder of the Peace Corps and Special Olympics. Her father, Lloyd Davis, was a civil rights activist, Korean War veteran, and senior HUD advisor—widely credited as one of the architects of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday.

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She holds a Bachelor of Science from Ithaca College and a Master of Arts from the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Leigh raised her three children entirely on her own. Her youngest daughter is a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, her son works for multinational pharmaceutical packaging company in the Berkshires, and her eldest daughter is a recent George Washington University political science graduate.

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