My Story

I'm living my immigrant father's dreams.

San Francisco native. SFUSD graduate. A career spent solving hard problems — now applied to our public schools.

Laurance Lee

I went to San Francisco public schools — Argonne, Presidio, and Lowell — as the son of an undocumented Chinese immigrant. My mother volunteered for our church; I've chosen to give my time back to our public schools.

Growing up, I didn't have the language to describe what I now recognize as neurodiversity — that wasn't something many families talked about, especially in the Asian community. I also worked through a speech impediment as a kid. My teachers didn't define me by what I struggled with. They encouraged my curiosity, helped me build confidence, and believed in me long before I believed in myself.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty." My Presidio Middle School English teacher, Ms. Johnson, taught me that line — and I still think about it today. I have a vision to bring more truth, and more beauty, back to San Francisco's public schools.

That foundation carried me to Harvard, then into a career trying to cure cancer as a biotech researcher — work recognized with a Merck research award. I later changed course and became a licensed general contractor, building new market-rate and affordable housing across the city. Now I want to take that same problem-solving, get-it-done mindset and put it to work for SFUSD.

Years of showing up before running for office

Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee

Served as lead of the Audit Committee, now Vice Chair — an independent watchdog over $1 billion+ in school construction spending across the entire district.

Civil Grand Jury

Spent a year investigating district operations, helping produce recommendations that improved SFUSD's teacher certification process.

Scholarships for first-generation students

Helped award scholarships to hundreds of SFUSD students, many the first in their family to attend college.

Weekly literacy volunteer, Bayview

Volunteers with a Kindergarten classroom at Drew Elementary through the nonprofit San Francisco Education Fund, plus visits and support at a dozen-plus schools and construction sites across the city.

Policy wins for students

Helped pass the ballot initiative expanding 8th-grade algebra access, and pushed for the new TK– 8 Mandarin Immersion public school.

I am running for the Board of Education to bring more community voice, more data-informed decisions, and a culture of continuous improvement to San Francisco public schools. Let's make SF schools the best in the country — together. — Laurance Lee