Joo Serk Lee understands the value of a good education, having himself received a “world-class education” through Lincoln Park High School’s International Baccalaureate program and later at Northwestern University as a double major in art theory and practice and political science. 

Now, he hopes to take on a new role in education as a board member. The New Trier School Board Caucus in late October 2024 slated him to run alongside incumbents Kimberly Alcantara, Avik Das, and Sally Tomlinson in the uncontested New Trier High School Board of Education election on April 1. 

“As someone who has benefited greatly from education, and with students and children that have been able to avail themselves of the pretty phenomenal resource, that was something that I felt required some giving back,” Lee said.

A 20-year resident of Wilmette, Illinois, Lee lives with his wife, Shannon, and three children, one a current student at Northwestern and the other two New Trier students.

Lee works in the tech industry, most recently starting his own technology services company, Tellaire. Previously, he was the chief architect at the advertising services company MERGE from January 2024 to February 2025. His interest in technology started at a young age. Growing up, his uncle, who worked at IBM, gave him access to some early PCs, which allowed him to learn the basics of programming.  

“[I] spent a good almost 30 years now working in technology and you know the pace at which it moves and evolves and the things that you can do with the power it has to elevate quality of life, I think is pretty phenomenal,” Lee said, noting how when he was at Northwestern, he did not even have an email address. 

Lee hopes to utilize his background as a technology consultant in not just his new business but also in serving the board.

“Technology can be very powerful, but it can also be misused,” Lee said. “I think understanding how technology can really harm is equally important, if not more important, and that is something also that I think we need to be very careful about, especially when we have people who are in their formative years in high school.”  

Lee plans to approach the role of a board member by having productive discussions with his colleagues to find consensus on how best to move New Trier forward. That civil dialogue is something he wants to encourage more of within New Trier.

“There is a standard for civility right now [in general] that I’m pretty certain that we’re all not hitting right now in terms of how we interact with each other. That pervades not just dialogue about contentious issues. It’s everything. It’s how we treat each other on a day-to-day basis,” Lee said. “It’s very important to listen and to make sure that we approach things with openness.”

He also plans to help New Trier reach goals in the long-term, strategic plan New Trier 2030 and seek input from stakeholders, such as students. 

As election day approaches, the slate plans to meet community members over coffee and by email. In addition, Lee noted that he would work to earn the community’s trust, which happens over time. 

“It’s difficult, especially in these types of situations because you’re asking people to make judgments very, very quickly on a lot of things,” Lee said. “That’s kind of lent itself to a lot of theater in our dialogue on important issues, and I think that we should probably start to care a little but less about the theater and more about the substance behind a lot of these things. And that’s something that I’ve always been very careful to do in my profession and personal life.”