Ellen Young (; born 1952) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who represented the 22nd assembly district in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

. She was elected in 2006 to represent

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

. She is currently the Chairwoman & CEO for the United Nations Global Peace Development Foundation. She lost in the 2008 primary for reelection to

Grace Meng Grace Meng (born October 1, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, her district is in the New York City borough of Q ...

. The election was hotly contested as Young was supported by

John Liu John Chun Yah Liu (born January 8, 1967) is an American politician in New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a member of the New York State Senate for the 11th district in northeast Queens. He previously served as the 43rd New Yo ...

(current New York State Senator) and Meng was supported by her father, previous Assemblyman

Jimmy Meng Jimmy Kuang Zui Meng (, born 1944) is a Chinese-Taiwanese American former politician, who served as a member of the New York State Assembly. A Democrat, Meng represented the 22nd Assembly District in Flushing, Queens from 2005 to 2006. He is the ...

. Young came to New York at the age of 25 from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

after graduating from Takming College in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. She became the first Asian woman elected to the state legislature. She had a more substantial record than many first-term Assembly members, by passing five bills into law, including a measure to extend senior-citizen services. Therefore, Young became the first Asian American to pass a law in New York State. During her term in the New York State Legislature, Ellen obtained an 83% increase in spending for her district while the total budget of New York State was cut by 20%. She also presided over the body as speaker pro-tempore, a special honor. After a lengthy recovery from a near-fatal bicycling accident in her Assembly District, Young was forced to direct her energy and expertise elsewhere. She enrolled at the St. John's University Institute of Asian Studies, earning her master's degree with a Certificate of Academic Excellence in 2012. Young was also appointed to the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh and Thirteenth Judicial District, serving two terms running from 2011 to 2019. In March 2020, Ellen obtained thousands of pieces of

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...

from all over the world and distributed them to New Yorkers. As early as March 2020, Young advocated for setting up one of the first free COVID-19 testing stations in the nation in New York City. Throughout the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, she continued working to set up free community testing sites all across the United States of America.

References

External links

Young's response to the 2008 Candidate Questionnaire for State Senate and Assembly from the 504 Democratic Club of New York City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Ellen 1952 births Living people American politicians of Taiwanese descent American women of Taiwanese descent in politics Asian-American people in New York (state) politics Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Queens, New York Women state legislators in New York (state) Taiwanese emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women