Background
She was born in Washington, District of Columbia
She was born in Washington, District of Columbia
She graduated from Oberlin College and Harvard Law School.
She had previously been a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People LDF). On November 28, 1961. At Harvard she was general editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.
She was a program officer for the Ford Foundation, overseeing grants to often under-represented groups in the area of peace and justice from 2001 to 2004 She worked for the American Civil Liberties Union in the Women"s Rights Project.
She worked for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund as assistant counsel in 1994 with a focus on voting rights and school desegregation.
She was selected by President Barack Obama to head the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2009. She also taught at Harvard Law School and New York Law School.