Allison Lee

Allison Herren Lee is an American attorney and former government official who served as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2019 to 2022.

A member of the Democratic Party, Lee briefly served as acting chair of the SEC from January to April 2021. After leaving the SEC, Lee became an adjunct professor at the New York University (NYU) School of Law In 2023, she joined the whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.

Education Lee received a degree in business from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law. During her time at law school, Lee was salutatorian, a chancellor’s Scholar, and served on the school's Law Review.

Career Prior to joining the SEC, Lee worked in private practice as a partner at Sherman & Howard LLC. She announced her departure from the agency in 2022, and Democrat Jaime Lizárraga was confirmed as her successor of the SEC.

ESG issues During her tenure, Lee was credited with bringing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues to the forefront of the agency's agenda. As a commissioner, Lee hired a policy advisor focused on ESG issues and initiated a commission task force to clamp down on alleged "greenwashing". During her time as acting SEC chair, Lee helped craft rules that directed the SEC to gather public input on corporate climate change disclosures.

Post-SEC career In 2022, it was announced that Lee would join the New York University School of Law as an adjunct professor and senior fellow at the school's Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance.