Leno will name San Francisco
immigrants activist
Woman of the Year

March 19, 2006

The California State Assembly will recognize Yvonne Y. Lee's extraordinary accomplishments on behalf of the indigent, the elderly and immigrants in San Francisco by honoring her as the 13th Assembly District's Woman of the Year in a ceremony Monday.

"Yvonne Lee has touched the lives and hearts of so many in our own City and beyond," said Assemblyman Leno (D-San Francisco).

"Her deep compassion for those less fortunate has fueled her tireless activism and her drive to give a voice to those who might otherwise be silenced."

The California State Assembly hosts the Woman of the Year ceremony annually as a way of recognizing outstanding women who have made significant contributions to communities across California.

Lee began her public service career with Self Help for the Elderly, a multi-service agency fighting for the rights of low income and elderly tenants in San Francisco.

While there, she secured federal and private funding to build The Lady Saw Senior Center, a $4.6 million senior housing and community center. In 1989, Lee was appointed National Executive Director of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, which advocates for disfranchised citizens of Chinese ancestry in the United States.

She collaborated with other civil rights organizations on the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1990, and the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. In 1990, Lee co-founded the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Reapportionment, a California public interest organization helping to ensure fair representation in state government.

Her work has given her insight into her own history and she felt compelled to share this with others when she co-produced "Separate Lives, Broken Dreams," a video documentary that she won an Emmy for best documentary and an international CINE Award. The documentary commemorated the 50th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In 1995, Lee was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a bi-partisan fact finding federal agency with a statutory responsibility to monitor and investigate civil rights violations.

During her six-year term, the Commission investigated border patrol and immigration, racial tension in Los Angeles and Miami and police and community relations.

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