Obama appoints new head of EEOC
WASHINGTON - President Obama picked Jacqueline A. Berrien, a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational fund, as head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Jacqueline Berrien has spent her entire career fighting to give voice to underrepresented communities and protect our most basic rights,’’ Obama said in a statement.
The White House made the announcement just hours before Obama was to address the annual meeting of the NAACP in New York City. Berrien, a Harvard Law School graduate, has been the legal defense fund’s associate director-counsel since 2004.
Berrien previously served for three years as program officer in the Ford Foundation’s peace and social justice program, where she administered more than $13 million in grants to promote political participation by underrepresented groups. She also has worked for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The EEOC is a government agency charged with ensuring equal employment opportunities throughout the United States.
