Shine Lee (he/him) – Interim Executive Director

In the summer of 2001, after graduating from the University of Missouri in Columbia with a bachelor’s in finance, Shine went to China with his father and business partner as they sought out potential suppliers for their billiard manufacturing business, The C.L. Bailey Company. After returning home, they had an idea to start a separate division within their company to handle the import and distribution of billiard related products. In 2001, Shine moved to Springfield to manage this division, and 23 years later, he’s still here running the same company.

Shine met his wife, Nicole, for the first time briefly on that summer trip in 2001. They got married in 2007 and now have two children together, Skylar & Vincent. Skylar will soon be a high school freshman, and she enjoys playing the violin. Vincent is in his last year of elementary school, and he loves playing basketball.

In November 2021, Shine attended “Coffee & Questions” to learn about volunteering for street outreach, and he met Christie and Bob for the first time. He started going out on street outreach every week during the cold weather months. During those cold nights, Shine made many wonderful friendships with other volunteers and friends on the street. In the spring of 2022, he started working with Holly to be a Family Connection supervisor, where he helped facilitate visits with families in the Greene County foster care system. Since then, he has built many heartwarming relationships with parents and children in the program.

Shine loves TCG’s team and the work they do together. He feels grateful to be invited onto the Board. Together, they will continue the work of TCG to improve the lives of the people in our community!

shine@theconnectinggrounds.com