Lee Khan
As a cofounder of PermittingPartners, Lee Khan specializes in developing creative solutions to permitting-related issues in order to win community support for client projects, saving client’s time and money.
Khan has used her expertise in site identification and permitting to counsel clients in the renewable energy, transmission, rail and mining industries. When working on permitting a biomass plant in New England, Khan and her team undertook a broad-based community assessment of the proposed project and identified specific recommendations for the developer to include in their permitting application – including creating incentives for plant workers to live in the community to support school enrollment – to ensure a smooth process for the application’s approval.
Khan’s permitting experience also includes creating strategic partnerships to improve the chances of successful permitting. Representing both a major mining company and a local railroad, Khan prepared a strategic plan to obtain community support for rail access to the mining company’s largest quarry, which led to $30 million in federal funding for the project – the largest public-private partnership in Vermont – and minimal opposition during the permitting process.
In addition to her permitting work, Khan has an extensive background in communications, coalition building, ally development and government relations. Early in her career, Khan was the founder and director of a division within the Republican National Committee called Working Partners, where she focused solely on the use of political volunteers in year-round activities to promote local leadership in problem solving. She also has advised and worked with prodemocracy representatives and governments in the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Grenada, and has served as a lobbyist for health care and rail corporations.
In addition to being a cofounder of PermittingPartners, Khan serves as an independent communications consultant. She is the founder and current chairman of two nonprofit corporations: Dimensions of Marble and the Vermont Rail Action Network.