Amrith Kaur Aakre will serve as the new director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Chicago District, the federal agency announced today. Aakre, who most recently served as the legal director for the Sikh Coalition, began her new role on Jan. 29.
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. The EEOC’s Chicago District is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota, with area offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
Immediately prior to joining the EEOC, Aakre led a national civil rights practice focused on systemic litigation matters in areas such as workplace discrimination, hate crimes, school discrimination, racial profiling, and bias-based policy issues. She also previously served as a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago for more than 11 years.
Aakre currently serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Illinois and the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, and on the leadership committee for the American Bar Association’s Religious Liberty Section. She also has served as an emerging leaders fellow for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Aakre earned dual bachelor’s degrees in applied science and technology engineering and English literature from The George Washington University, and her juris doctor from The University of Illinois at Chicago Law School.
