Jenny Rae Yang (born 1970/1971) is an American attorney and public official. In 2021, Yang was appointed by President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to serve as the Director of

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. OFCCP is responsible for ensuring that employers doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring nondis ...

, an agency within the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

. Prior to this, Yang served as a member of the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

(EEOC) from 2012 to 2017, and led the commission as chair from 2014 to 2017.

Early life and education

Yang grew up in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

, where she attended Livingston High School and played on the tennis team. Yang has a bachelor's degree in government from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

Legal career

Yang clerked for Edmund V. Ludwig at the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philad ...

. Between 1998 and 2003, Yang worked as an investigating prosecutor for the Labor Litigation Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. In 2003, Yang joined the firm

Cohen Milstein Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC (often simply known as Cohen Milstein) is an American plaintiffs' law firm that engages in large-scale class action litigation. The firm filed a number of lawsuits against Donald Trump during and after his pre ...

as a partner, where she primarily represented workers in civil rights litigation.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Yang was appointed to a position on the

(EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing civil laws against workplace discrimination, by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

on August 2, 2012. In 2014, Yang was chosen to succeed

Jacqueline A. Berrien Jacqueline Ann Berrien (November 28, 1961 – November 9, 2015), often known as Jackie Berrien, was an American civil rights attorney and government official. From 2009 to 2014, Berrien served as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissi ...

as Chair of the EEOC. She was succeeded as chair by acting chair

Victoria Lipnic Victoria Ann Lipnic (born 1960) is an American lawyer and public figure. She served in multiple senior United States government positions. She was Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), nominated to two terms by ...

and left the commission on January 3, 2018. During Yang's time as chair, the EEOC established a Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace to address

workplace sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

Post-EEOC career

Yang served as a Leadership in Government Fellow at the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

from January 8, 2018, to July 2019. She served as a Fellow and later Senior Fellow at the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations, and p ...

from June 2018 to January 2021. She testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on best practices in preventing sexual harassment in the federal courts. In 2019, Yang was mentioned by liberal group

Demand Justice Demand Justice is a politically progressive American 501(c)(4) legal advocacy organization. It focuses on motivating left-leaning voters based on its goal of changing the composition of the American federal judiciary, as well as encouraging the ...

as one of their recommended

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

nominees. In 2020, Yang testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor, where she advocated for what she describes as a "Workers' Bill of Rights for Algorithmic Decisions" to regulate algorithmic employment decisions.

Department of Labor

In November 2020, Yang was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the

. Upon Biden's inauguration, Yang was appointed to serve as Director of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (FCCP) at the Department of Labor. In this capacity, she indicated that prioritizing pay equity and workforce diversity initiatives would be a key goal of the FCCP. Jenny Yang at 2015 AAPI Heritage Month Program

Jenny Yang at 2015 AAPI Heritage Month Program

Personal life

Yang is married to Kil Huh, also a graduate of Cornell, NYU and Columbia University. The couple have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Jenny R. American lawyers Chairs of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Cornell University alumni Living people New York University School of Law alumni 1971 births United States Department of Labor officials