Jenny R. Yang

Fifteenth Chair of the EEOC, September 1, 2014 - January 25, 2017

Jenny R. Yang was sworn in as Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on September 1, 2014. Ms. Yang joined the Commission on May 13, 2013, after being nominated to be a commissioner by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the senate. She served as Chair until January 25, 2017.  Ms. Yang was the first Asian-American Chair of the EEOC.

During Ms. Yang's tenure as Chair, the EEOC established a Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace to address workplace sexual harassment. Furthermore, Ms. Yang enhanced the EEOC’s annual data collection to include employer reporting of pay data to tackle systemic discrimination. She also launched digital systems to facilitate online charge information.

Prior to her appointment as Chair, Ms. Yang was named Vice Chair, and led a comprehensive review of the agency's systemic program, which is focused on issues of alleged discrimination that have broad impact on an industry, profession, company or geographic area. She also represented the agency on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Ms. Yang was a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC. She also served as a Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section.

Ms. Yang received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.