Former EEOC Commissioner to Head CFPB's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Ilyse Schuman

Stuart Ishimaru, who stepped down as a Commissioner with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on April 30, will now serve as the director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is charged with, among other tasks, rule-making, supervision, and enforcement for federal consumer financial protection laws; promoting financial education; monitoring financial markets for new risks to consumers; and enforcing consumer finance non-discrimination laws. 

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) signed into law on July 21, 2010, contains a provision that requires federal agencies that deal with financial firms, including the CFPB, to create an OMWI within their agency. This office will impose certain diversity requirements on businesses in the financial industry. Section 342 of Dodd-Frank stipulates that each director of an OMWI will develop and implement standards for ensuring “to the maximum extent possible, the fair inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, and minority-owned and women-owned businesses in all business and activities of the agency at all levels, including in procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts.”

Ishimaru was appointed to the EEOC in 2003 by former President Bush, and serviced as the Commission’s acting chair from January 20, 2009 until April 7, 2010. In a press release announcing Ishimaru’s new position with the CFBP, the agency explains that its OMWI will develop standards for:

  • Equal employment opportunity and the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the workforce and senior management of the agency;
  • Increased participation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the CFPB’s programs and contracts; and
  • Assessing the diversity policies and practices of the CFPB’s regulated entities.
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Stuart Ishimaru to Resign as EEOC Commissioner

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Ilyse Schuman

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) member Stuart Ishimaru has announced that he is resigning from the Commission this month, two months shy of when his second term is set to expire. Ishimaru was appointed to the EEOC in 2003 by former President Bush. From January 20, 2009 until April 7, 2010, Ishimaru served as the Commission’s acting chair. Commissioner Jacqueline Berrien currently holds the chairmanship position.

For the past 30 years, Ishimaru has held a number of jobs in the civil rights field, including working as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (1999-2001), as counsel to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (1994-99), as acting staff director for U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1993-94), as professional staff to the Committee on Armed Services (1991-93) for the U.S. House of Representatives, as assistant counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary (1984-91), as a graduate course instructor in Equal Employment Opportunity at American University, and as assistant to the director at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (1982-83).

According to the EEOC news release announcing his resignation, Ishimaru

was the first Administration official to testify before Congress in support of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He also testified before the Senate in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act (an Act to reinvigorate and bolster the protections against gender-based wage discrimination provided by the Equal Pay Act of 1963).

Why Ishimaru is stepping down prior to his July 1, 2012 end date has not been explained. In addition to Chair Berrien (D), the remaining members of the EEOC are Constance S. Barker (R), Chai Feldblum (D), and Victoria A. Lipnic (R).

Photo credit:  EEOC
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Stuart Ishimaru Appointed Acting EEOC Chair

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Jay Sumner

President Obama has named Stuart J. Ishimaru to serve as acting chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Ishimaru, who was appointed to the EEOC in 2003 by former President Bush, is the senior Democratic member of the agency. Christine M. Griffin, a Democrat who has been a member of the EEOC since 2006, was named as acting vice chairman.

Mr. Ishimaru has worked in the civil rights field for a number of years. Prior to joining the EEOC, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1999-2001) in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as counsel to Assistant Attorney General (1994-99), as acting staff director for U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1993-94), as professional staff to the Committee on Armed Services (1991-93) for the U.S. House of Representatives, as assistant counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary (1984-91), as a graduate course instructor in Equal Employment Opportunity at American University, and as assistant to the director at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (1982-83). Mr. Ishimaru received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley (1980) and his JD from the National Law Center, George Washington University (1983).

During his term at the EEOC, Ishimaru has been critical of what he deemed the agency’s backing away from strong enforcement of civil rights laws. As acting chairman, it can be expected that Ishimaru will take more of an activist role than that of Republican Naomi Churchill Earp, his predecessor.
 
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