Outstanding Leadership in Queens
2006 Honoree of the Queens Federation of Churches

The Honorable Helen M. Marshall

Helen Marshall was elected overwhelmingly as Queens Borough President in November 2001 with 68 percent of the vote and reelected last year. She is the 18th Borough President of Queens, the first African American and the second woman to assume the post of the highest elected official in a borough with a population of more than 2.2 million people.

She represented the 21st District in the City Council for ten years, from 1991-2001. As the first minority and woman elected from the district, she worked to enrich and unify an extraordinarily diverse community. During her tenure, she served as Chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Housing & Buildings, Environmental Protection and Women’s Issues Committees. She also was Co-Chair of the Council’s Black and Latino Caucus.

As Chair of the City Council’s Higher Education Committee, she successfully fought against the privatization of the City University of New York. She was also one of the founders of the Langston Hughes Library and provided funding for the expansion and upgrade of every library in her district. She has also been an advocate for quality health care, senior citizens and the environment. She secured funds to restore the City’s free dental clinics, led the fight to prevent the sale of Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Center and has fought for many years to protect Flushing Bay from the impacts of LaGuardia Airport. She also provided funding for two new senior centers in her district and for vans to transport seniors.

Ms. Marshall, a native New Yorker, has been in public service for 20 years. Before her election to the City Council, Marshall was elected in 1982 to the first of five terms in the New York State Assembly. For eight years, prior to her election to the Assembly, Ms. Marshall was an early childhood teacher. She left teaching in 1969 to become the first Director of the Langston Hughes Library – a post she held for five years. She also was Director of the Elmcor Testing Assessment and Placement Program for eight years. In 1975, she became a Democratic National Committee Committeewoman and was elected in 1974 as a Democratic District Leader.

Throughout her career, Marshall has been an advocate for public libraries, job training programs and economic development projects. She was a parent activist in the City’s public schools for 15 years, a member of Community Board 3 for 13 years and a founder of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation. She is an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in East Elmhurst.