Lisa Caughman, MSc, HHP, CAPP

Lisa Caughman is the founder and executive director of Lee Lee's Life Lessons, Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to helping survivors of cancer and adversity reclaim joy, resilience, and purpose. What began three years ago as an initiative under the Alliance of Divine Love Church, where Caughman served as an ordained interfaith minister, has since grown into an independent organization, formally incorporated this past April to expand its reach. Her passion for this mission is deeply personal: Caughman has been living with stage IV colon cancer since 2016, an experience that continues to shape both her worldview and the programs she builds for others walking a similar path.

Before dedicating herself fully to this calling, Caughman spent decades in public education nutrition services, most recently retiring as School Nutrition Director for Buncombe County Schools in Asheville, North Carolina, after a career that began in 1990. She holds a bachelor's degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration Management from the University of South Carolina, along with a master's in Metaphysical Science that underpins her certification as a Holistic Health Practitioner. She further deepened her expertise in wellbeing through certifications in Positive Psychology from the Flourishing Center, completed in 2023. Her leadership across the food security and agriculture space has been recognized through the Asheville Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award, and she remains active with organizations including the School Food Service Association, Meals for Families, the Carolina Hunger Initiative, and the Kellogg's K-12 Advisory Council, alongside board service for the Donald S. Collins Early Childhood Education Center and, previously, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.

At the heart of Caughman's current work is the Let Us Play™ framework, a joy-centered approach she created to help individuals move beyond mere survival toward renewed meaning, vitality, and connection. She is now expanding this vision alongside her daughter, Shelby Caughman, co-founder of Playvera Co., through an experiential model that brings creativity, reflection, and play together for healthcare organizations, survivorship programs, and communities seeking whole-person wellbeing. Grounded in compassion and lived experience, Caughman continues to guide her organization's mission alongside its Board of Directors, driven by a singular goal: ensuring that no one facing cancer or adversity has to navigate the journey feeling unsupported or alone.