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Dear stakeholder community,
On January 20, I was honored to join the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) as its new director. During the Obama-Biden Administration, I served as Chair, Vice-Chair and Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from May 2013 to January 2018. I could not be more excited to return to the government to advance OFCCP’s powerful mission to ensure equal opportunity and promote meaningful affirmative action during this critical time in our nation’s history. I look forward to meeting with you in the coming months to understand your perspectives and share more about OFCCP’s work.
I am fortunate to be joined by Dariely Rodriguez who will be serving as my Chief of Staff. Dariely brings many years of civil rights and employment discrimination experience, most recently with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she led the Committee’s economic justice project. Dariely previously served as an assistant attorney general with the New York Attorney General’s Office's civil rights bureau. Before joining the New York Attorney General’s Office, Dariely was an employment attorney in private practice where she specialized in affirmative action and EEO compliance matters.
President Biden has made a historic commitment to advancing racial equity, prioritizing it as a critical pillar of his Administration. As many of you may be aware, on day one of his Administration, President Biden issued an Executive Order to advance racial equity that revoked Executive Order 13950, which sought to prohibit federal contractors, subcontractors, grantees and the federal government from providing certain workplace diversity training and programs. OFCCP has taken immediate action to implement President Biden’s revocation of Executive Order 13950.
Although we have seen hatred and bigotry divide our country, OFCCP has a critical opportunity to work with all of you to unite a broad coalition of stakeholders in the pursuit of a common goal – to eliminate systemic discrimination in the workplace and affirmatively advance equality of opportunity. Over the past year, in response to the long overdue racial reckoning in our country, many leading employers, including federal contractors, have taken bold action to address systemic barriers to opportunity and to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplaces. We look forward to working with the contractor, civil rights, and worker communities to take concrete action to advance equity for all Americans.
As we celebrate Black History Month, OFCCP recognizes the tremendous contributions Black Americans have made across our society while recognizing the unfinished work ahead to create a future where everyone has access to economic opportunity and justice in America. Today, working together, we have a chance to make the kind of transformative change in advancing racial equity that we have not seen since the 1960s.
I look forward to working with each of you as we continue the journey of tackling inequality and advancing fairness and dignity for all in the workplace.
Jenny R. Yang
Director, OFCCP
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