Norman Yee (, born July 29, 1949) is a former American elected official and educator in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing Supervisorial District 7 from 2012 to 2021 and was elected president of the Board in January 2019.

Early life and education

Yee was born at Chinese Hospital in Chinatown, San Francisco and grew up working at his parents' grocery store in

Noe Valley, San Francisco Noe Valley ( ; originally spelt Noé) is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. It is named for Don José de Jesús Noé, noted 19th-century Californio statesman and ranchero, who owned much of the area and served as may ...

. As a child, he had a speech impediment and would often get into fights when teased. Yee attended

Galileo Academy of Science and Technology , motto_translation = And yet it moves , type = Public High school , established = , faculty = , district = San Francisco Unified School District , grades ...

. From there, he attended

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, annually enrolling as many as one in nine San Franci ...

from 1967 to 1971. He later transferred to

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering and subsequently completed a master's degree in education from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

Career

Yee taught

ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

and citizenship at City College from 1984 to 1994. Yee served as the executive director for Wu Yee Children's Service, an advocacy group supporting child services in San Francisco, for 18 years. Yee was a founding member of the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School, the country's first Chinese immersion public school.

San Francisco Board of Education

Yee began his political career in 2004 by serving as a commissioner for the

San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, an ...

and was re-elected in 2008. During his second term, he served as president of the Board of Education.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

After Supervisor Sean Elsbernd termed out of office, Yee narrowly defeated F. X. Crowley to become supervisor in the 2012 election with 135 votes. One of Yee's key issues has been education. In 2018, he co-authored a universal child care proposition which passed as Prop C. He co-authored Proposition W, which made City College free for San Francisco residents with an increase on the property sales tax on sales that exceeded $5 million dollars. In the 2016 San Francisco Board of Supervisors election, Yee was re-elected with about 40% of first round votes, and 58% of final round votes. In 2019, Yee was elected as president of the Board of Supervisors by a vote of 10-1.

Personal life

Yee is married to Cathy Chung, an ESL teacher at City College's Chinatown campus. They have two daughters.

References

External links

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Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yee, Norman Living people San Francisco Board of Supervisors members 1949 births 21st-century American politicians UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni California politicians of Chinese descent San Francisco State University alumni City College of San Francisco alumni City College of San Francisco faculty School board members in California