Sharon Lee’s path to Queens Borough Hall is an unlikely one. It begins in California — where Lee, the daughter of Korean immigrants, was inspired by her father to look outside the box when applying to college.
“He urged me to leave California,” Lee said. “He said growing up in California, you have no idea what it’s like to be a minority. So, Wisconsin it was, and it was an awakening. I learned much more about myself and much more about the country.”
As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Lee heard a young politician speak at a student conference in 2003, John Liu, who had made history as the first Asian-American elected to the New York City Council.
“I listened to him and I was like, ‘I want to work for him one day.’ I was actually inspired.”
Lee applied for an internship in Liu’s office, which brought her to Queens. She worked alongside him as he rose the political ranks.
She saw him elected as the City Comptroller in 2009, and lose the mayoral race in 2013.
In 2014, she joined the team of the newly elected Borough President, Melinda Katz, as communications director.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with some trailblazers,” Lee said of her experiences.
In 2018, Lee was tapped to be Katz’s right hand woman, the deputy borough president.
That put Lee in the position of becoming interim borough president when Katz was sworn in as Queens District Attorney on January 1.
Lee will hold the position another 10 weeks until a special election is held on March 24.
Lee is clear on this, though: she has no plans of running for the office.
“I think the value I can add to public service, which is a passion and also equal opportunities, fairness and justice,” Lee said. “Those are deep passions of mine. And I don’t think that necessitates me to run for office. It does necessitate me to empower those good people to getting good positions."
While her position is temporary, Lee is making history herself. She’s the first Asian-American to hold a borough-wide public office in Queens and in the city.