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Naomi Churchill Earp assumed the role of Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on January 22, 2009, after serving two and a half years as Chair and three years as Vice Chair during the administration of President George Bush. Ms. Earp’s current term expires on July 1, 2010.
Ms. Earp's experience in promoting diversity and equal employment opportunity includes a series of progressively responsible leadership positions with several federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ms. Earp also served as an Attorney Advisor at the EEOC during the mid-1980s. In addition, she has worked as an independent consultant, providing services to private employers and public agencies on a variety of employment-related issues and programs.
During her tenure at EEOC, Ms. Earp has worked to position EEOC to address 21st century paradigms of discrimination. She enthusiastically supported systemic reforms in enforcement and litigation, and spearheaded the Commission’s Youth@Work and E-RACE (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from Employment) Initiatives. She has partnered with both public and private sector employers to use organizational culture and corporate values as frameworks for promoting respect, communication, and dispute resolution. Ms. Earp is a firm believer that America cannot litigate its way out of all of the daily misunderstandings in the workplace. Instead, she believes management and labor must recommit the workplace to basic principles of respect for the individual.
Ms. Earp is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and is actively involved with the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association.
A native of Newport News, Virginia, Ms. Earp received her bachelor's degree from Norfolk University, Norfolk, Virginia; master's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; and Juris Doctor from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law, Washington, DC. She is a member of the Supreme Court Bar and the Pennsylvania Bar.
This page was last modified on February 27, 2009.