diff --git a/website/build.py b/website/build.py
index f1e831e3..0652d0f4 100644
--- a/website/build.py
+++ b/website/build.py
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ class EntryGroup(TypedDict):
     name: str  # empty for a page with a single unnamed group
     slug: str
     url: str  # links the group heading to its own page, empty when it has none
+    lead: str  # the section intro's first paragraph as HTML, shown under the heading on group pages
     entries: list[TemplateEntry]
 
 
@@ -249,16 +250,16 @@ def category_meta_description(name: str, entry_count: int, description: str, par
     return f"{count_sentence} Part of the Awesome Python catalog."
 
 
-def load_category_intro(path: Path) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
+def load_category_intro(path: Path) -> tuple[str, str, str, str]:
     """Render a category intro file to HTML, split at the end of its "How to choose:" list.
 
     Returns the part shown above the table, the guide shown below it, and the
-    first paragraph as plain text for the meta description. A file without the
-    list keeps everything above the table. Returns empty strings if the category
-    has no intro file.
+    first paragraph as plain text for the meta description and as HTML for
+    group pages. A file without the list keeps everything above the table.
+    Returns empty strings if the category has no intro file.
     """
     if not path.exists():
-        return "", "", ""
+        return "", "", "", ""
     md = MarkdownIt("commonmark")
     tokens = md.parse(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
     for token in tokens:
@@ -273,7 +274,12 @@ def load_category_intro(path: Path) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
             split_at = next(j for j in range(i + 3, len(tokens)) if tokens[j].type == "bullet_list_close" and tokens[j].level == 0) + 1
             break
     render = md.renderer.render
-    return render(tokens[:split_at], md.options, {}), render(tokens[split_at:], md.options, {}), render_inline_text(lead.children[0].children)
+    return (
+        render(tokens[:split_at], md.options, {}),
+        render(tokens[split_at:], md.options, {}),
+        render_inline_text(lead.children[0].children),
+        render(lead.to_tokens(), md.options, {}),
+    )
 
 
 def group_section_entries(section: ParsedSection, entries_by_key: dict[tuple[str, str], TemplateEntry]) -> list[EntryGroup]:
@@ -282,12 +288,12 @@ def group_section_entries(section: ParsedSection, entries_by_key: dict[tuple[str
     for parsed in section["entries"]:
         name = parsed["subcategory"]
         slug = slugify(name) if name else ""
-        group = groups.setdefault(name, EntryGroup(name=name, slug=slug, url=subcategory_path(section["slug"], slug) if name else "", entries=[]))
+        group = groups.setdefault(name, EntryGroup(name=name, slug=slug, url=subcategory_path(section["slug"], slug) if name else "", lead="", entries=[]))
         group["entries"].append(entries_by_key[(parsed["url"], parsed["name"])])
     return list(groups.values())
 
 
-def group_entries_by_section(sections: Sequence[ParsedSection], entries_by_key: dict[tuple[str, str], TemplateEntry]) -> list[EntryGroup]:
+def group_entries_by_section(sections: Sequence[ParsedSection], entries_by_key: dict[tuple[str, str], TemplateEntry], intros_dir: Path) -> list[EntryGroup]:
     """Group a thematic group's entries by section, both in README order, listing each entry once."""
     placed: set[tuple[str, str]] = set()
     groups: list[EntryGroup] = []
@@ -298,7 +304,7 @@ def group_entries_by_section(sections: Sequence[ParsedSection], entries_by_key:
             if key not in placed:
                 placed.add(key)
                 entries.append(entries_by_key[key])
-        groups.append(EntryGroup(name=section["name"], slug=section["slug"], url=category_path(section), entries=entries))
+        groups.append(EntryGroup(name=section["name"], slug=section["slug"], url=category_path(section), lead=load_category_intro(intros_dir / f"{section['slug']}.md")[3], entries=entries))
     return groups
 
 
@@ -753,7 +759,7 @@ def build(repo_root: Path) -> None:
         page_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         parent_name = parent_category["name"] if parent_category else None
         category_title = category_meta_title(category["name"], parent_name)
-        intro_html, guide_html, intro_lead = load_category_intro(website / "data" / "category_intros" / f"{current_path.removeprefix('/categories/').strip('/')}.md")
+        intro_html, guide_html, intro_lead, _ = load_category_intro(website / "data" / "category_intros" / f"{current_path.removeprefix('/categories/').strip('/')}.md")
         category_description = intro_lead or category_meta_description(category["name"], len(entries), category["description"], parent_name)
         breadcrumbs = [("Awesome Python", SITE_URL)]
         if parent_category:
@@ -805,7 +811,7 @@ def build(repo_root: Path) -> None:
             current_path=group_path(group["slug"]),
             page_dir=categories_dir / group["slug"],
             group_categories=group["categories"],
-            entry_groups=group_entries_by_section(group["categories"], entries_by_key),
+            entry_groups=group_entries_by_section(group["categories"], entries_by_key, website / "data" / "category_intros"),
         )
 
     if builtin_entries:
@@ -855,7 +861,7 @@ def build(repo_root: Path) -> None:
             current_path=subcategory_path(cat_slug, sub_slug),
             page_dir=categories_dir / cat_slug / sub_slug,
             parent_category=cat_by_slug[cat_slug],
-            entry_groups=[EntryGroup(name="", slug="", url="", entries=group["entries"]) for group in section_groups[cat_by_slug[cat_slug]["name"]] if group["name"] == sub_name],
+            entry_groups=[EntryGroup(name="", slug="", url="", lead="", entries=group["entries"]) for group in section_groups[cat_by_slug[cat_slug]["name"]] if group["name"] == sub_name],
         )
 
     redirects_file = website / "data" / "redirects.json"
diff --git a/website/static/style.css b/website/static/style.css
index 4ada7574..09a17bf9 100644
--- a/website/static/style.css
+++ b/website/static/style.css
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ kbd {
 .group-row th {
   padding-top: 2.25rem;
   padding-bottom: 0.85rem;
-  padding-left: max(var(--shell-pad), calc(50vw - (var(--shell-max) / 2) + var(--shell-pad)));
+  padding-inline: max(var(--shell-pad), calc(50vw - (var(--shell-max) / 2) + var(--shell-pad)));
   text-align: left;
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line-strong);
   background: var(--bg-paper);
@@ -878,6 +878,15 @@ kbd {
   display: none;
 }
 
+.group-lead {
+  margin-top: 0.75rem;
+  font-size: var(--text-lg);
+  font-weight: 400;
+  line-height: 1.55;
+  color: var(--ink-soft);
+  text-wrap: pretty;
+}
+
 .group-count {
   font-family: var(--font-body);
   font-size: var(--text-sm);
@@ -1074,11 +1083,13 @@ th[data-sort].sort-asc::after {
   max-width: none;
 }
 
-.desc-text a {
+.desc-text a,
+.group-lead a {
   color: var(--accent-deep);
 }
 
-.desc-text a:hover {
+.desc-text a:hover,
+.group-lead a:hover {
   color: var(--accent);
   text-decoration: underline;
   text-decoration-color: var(--accent-underline);
@@ -1807,7 +1818,8 @@ th[data-sort].sort-asc::after {
   }
 
   .table thead th:last-child,
-  .table tbody td:last-child {
+  .table tbody td:last-child,
+  .group-row th {
     padding-right: 0.8rem;
   }
 
diff --git a/website/templates/category.html b/website/templates/category.html
index e8d05860..3d59b1b3 100644
--- a/website/templates/category.html
+++ b/website/templates/category.html
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@
               {% if group.url %}<a href="{{ group.url }}">{{ group.name }}</a>{% else %}{{ group.name }}{% endif %}
               <span class="group-count">{{ group.entries | length }} project{{ "s" if group.entries | length != 1 }}</span>
             </h2>
+            {% if group.lead %}
+            <div class="group-lead">{{ group.lead | safe }}</div>
+            {% endif %}
           </th>
         </tr>
         {% endif %}
diff --git a/website/tests/test_build.py b/website/tests/test_build.py
index 83a332bf..c38c3979 100644
--- a/website/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/website/tests/test_build.py
@@ -1148,6 +1148,39 @@ class TestBuild:
         assert "repeats-heading" not in html
         assert 'class="jump-links"' not in html
 
+    def test_group_page_shows_section_intro_lead_under_section_heading(self, tmp_path):
+        readme = textwrap.dedent("""\
+            # T
+
+            ## Projects
+
+            **AI & ML**
+
+            ## Machine Learning
+
+            - [ml1](https://example.com/ml1) - ML.
+
+            ## Deep Learning
+
+            - [dl1](https://example.com/dl1) - DL.
+
+            # Contributing
+
+            Done.
+        """)
+        self._copy_real_templates(tmp_path)
+        (tmp_path / "README.md").write_text(readme, encoding="utf-8")
+        intros_dir = tmp_path / "website" / "data" / "category_intros"
+        intros_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (intros_dir / "machine-learning.md").write_text("Start with [`ml1`](https://example.com/ml1).\n\nMore detail.\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        build(tmp_path)
+
+        html = (tmp_path / "website" / "output" / "categories" / "ai-ml" / "index.html").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        lead = html.index('<div class="group-lead"><p>Start with <a href="https://example.com/ml1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><code>ml1</code></a>.</p>')
+        assert html.index('<a href="/categories/machine-learning/">Machine Learning</a>') < lead < html.index(">ml1</a")
+        assert "More detail." not in html
+        assert html.count('class="group-lead"') == 1
+
     def test_build_rejects_redirect_to_missing_page(self, tmp_path):
         self._copy_real_templates(tmp_path)
         (tmp_path / "README.md").write_text(self._REDIRECT_README, encoding="utf-8")
@@ -1500,17 +1533,18 @@ class TestLoadCategoryIntro:
     def test_splits_after_how_to_choose_list(self, tmp_path):
         path = tmp_path / "widgets.md"
         path.write_text("Use `w1` for most apps.\n\nHow to choose:\n\n- Small apps: w1\n- Big apps: w2\n\nConfigure w1 once.\n\nPin w2.\n", encoding="utf-8")
-        intro_html, guide_html, lead = load_category_intro(path)
+        intro_html, guide_html, lead, lead_html = load_category_intro(path)
         assert intro_html == "<p>Use <code>w1</code> for most apps.</p>\n<p>How to choose:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Small apps: w1</li>\n<li>Big apps: w2</li>\n</ul>\n"
         assert guide_html == "<p>Configure w1 once.</p>\n<p>Pin w2.</p>\n"
         assert lead == "Use w1 for most apps."
+        assert lead_html == "<p>Use <code>w1</code> for most apps.</p>\n"
 
     def test_keeps_everything_above_table_without_how_to_choose_list(self, tmp_path):
         path = tmp_path / "widgets.md"
         path.write_text("Use w1.\n\n- Small apps: w1\n\nConfigure w1 once.\n", encoding="utf-8")
-        intro_html, guide_html, _ = load_category_intro(path)
+        intro_html, guide_html, _, _ = load_category_intro(path)
         assert "Configure w1 once." in intro_html
         assert guide_html == ""
 
     def test_returns_empty_strings_without_intro_file(self, tmp_path):
-        assert load_category_intro(tmp_path / "missing.md") == ("", "", "")
+        assert load_category_intro(tmp_path / "missing.md") == ("", "", "", "")