Norton, First Woman to Chair EEOC, to Speak at Swearing-In Ceremony of Jenny R. Yang, First Asian-American EEOC Chair

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), former chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will deliver opening remarks at the swearing-in ceremony of Jenny R. Yang, the first Asian-American EEOC chair, today, October 21, 3:30 p.m. at EEOC Headquarters, 131 M Street NE. Norton, who was appointed in 1977 to the EEOC as the first female chair by President Jimmy Carter and enforced federal job discrimination laws, will honor the achievements of outgoing EEOC chair Jacqueline A. Berrien and welcome Yang into her new position. Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will also be attending the ceremony.

"Jenny, who has served ably as vice chair of the Commission, is a worthy successor to her impressive predecessor, Jacqueline Berrien," Norton said. "I am honored to pay tribute to them both."

Yang, who has served at the EEOC since 2012, first as a commissioner and then as vice chair, was named chair by President Obama on September 1, 2014, to serve a term expiring July 1, 2017. Since joining the EEOC, Yang has represented the agency on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and on the White House Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, two national projects that reflect both her culture and her dedication to equality.

Prior to joining the EEOC, Yang worked for Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, where she served as chair of the firm's hiring and diversity committee. Before joining the firm, Yang served as a Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section, where she enforced federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination by state and local government employers. Yang received her B.A. from Cornell University in Government, and she received her J.D. from New York University School of Law. At NYU, Yang was a Note and Comment Editor of the Law Review and a Root-Tilden Public Interest Scholar. She later clerked for the Honorable Edmund Ludwig on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, then went on to enforce the workplace rights of garment workers at the National Employment Law Project.