Date: January 19, 2024
To: Members of the Ethics Commission
From: Gayathri Thaikkendiyil, Acting Executive Director
Subject: Agenda Item 9 – Presentation to acknowledge outgoing Commission Chair Yvonne Lee, whose full six-year term of service on the Ethics Commission is concluding.
Summary and Action Requested
This item appears on the agenda to enable the Commission, Staff, and public to thank and acknowledge Chair Yvonne Lee for her service to the Ethics Commission upon the conclusion of her full six-year term of office.
Background
Commissioner Lee was appointed by the late Mayor Edwin M. Lee in August 2017 to complete the remaining term of former Ethics Commissioner Beverly Hayon. In February 2018, Commissioner Lee was reappointed to a full six-year term by then-Mayor Mark Farrell for a term ending February 1, 2024. In early 2020, she was elected by the Commission to serve as Vice-Chair through February 2021 and became acting Chair in July 2021 following the resignation of Chair Noreen Ambrose. In February 2022, Commissioner Lee was unanimously elected by the Commission to serve a full one-year term as Chair beginning March 1, 2022. In February 2023, Yvonne Lee was elected by the Commission to continue serving as Chair.
Commissioner Lee served as a Presidential appointee as Regional Advocate to lead region 9 of the Office of Advocacy for the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2011 to 2017. In that capacity she represented the voice of small businesses in federal government and engaged with small business stakeholders to address their regulatory concerns, particularly with innovative entrepreneurialism. She has also advised non-governmental organizations, government, and the private sector on policy and strategic development and community engagement with data and opinion research analysis, media and community outreach. She was appointed to the US Agriculture department’s newly established 15-member Equity Commission to evaluate USDA policy and programs and issue an advisory report to the Department Secretary on racial equity.
From 1995 to 2001, Commissioner Lee was a Presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Investigative reports conducted during her term as a Civil Rights Commissioner included economic and health disparities among women and minorities, use of force and administration of justice, church burnings and hate crimes, and Native Hawaiian self-determination.
She also served as National Director from 1988 to 1993 for the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in San Francisco, where she administered membership activities and chapter operations for the national civil rights organization, testified before Congress, and developed legislative platforms for membership adoption. She also has experience in the non-profit sector in San Francisco, working on housing issues as Project Director for the Pineview Housing Corporation and serving as Housing Program Director for Self Help for the Elderly.
Commissioner Lee previously served on the San Francisco Police Commission. She was an Inaugural Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women Leadership Institute, and served as a Fellow at the Gallup Executive Leadership Institute. She was a co-founder and co-chair of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Reapportionment. She holds a BS in Health Education from the University of California, Davis.
Ethics Commission Acknowledgement of Service
Commissioner Lee’s service as a member of the Ethics Commission is concluding on February 1, 2024 with her completion of a six-year term of office. To recognize and honor Chair Lee’s commitment to advancing integrity and accountability in City government and thank her for her vision and leadership in service to the public, the Commission has placed time on its January 24 agenda.