The UFT Delegate Assembly voted on March 19 to endorse UFT Treasurer Victoria Lee for reelection as a teacher-member of the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System board.

“Victoria Lee is a respected and trusted fiduciary and advocate for our pensions,” said UFT Assistant Treasurer Tom Brown, the TRS board chair, in motivating the resolution. “In the few years she’s been on the board, Victoria has made an indelible mark on the pension community here in New York City and actually throughout the country, speaking at many national organizations that promote defined-benefit public pensions.”

Lee replaced Debra Penny as a UFT teacher-member on Feb. 1, 2023, and was elected by the union’s Executive Board a year later to replace Penny as treasurer.

“Fellow trustee Christina McGrath and I are constantly impressed with Victoria’s knowledge, her diligence, her dedication and especially her compassion for our current and future retirees,” Brown said. “Our pensions are stronger and safer with Victoria Lee as trustee and on the TRS board.”

Lee began her public school teaching career in 1997 at PS 143 in Corona, Queens. Two years later, she moved to nearby PS 16 and was elected its chapter leader in 2009. The following year, Lee trained to become a pension consultant for the Queens UFT borough office, even as she continued teaching.

She became a UFT pension representative in 2016 and soon began running pension clinics and workshops for the union throughout the city.

District 31 Representative Shawn Ramos, a banker before he became a teacher, trained alongside Lee to become a pension consultant and assured the delegates that she is the epitome of “experience, integrity and trust.”