Cari Dominguez: 1949—: EEOC Chair Biography

In 2001 Cari Dominguez was sworn in as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the foremost civil rights agency in the United States. Dominguez's position has allowed her to continue her lifelong work with employment-related and advancement issues, and to address the barriers raised by discrimination in a proactive, rather than reactive, way.

Dominguez was born on March 8, 1949, in Havana, Cuba. The Dominguez family, like many others, felt the strain of the political upheaval of the time. Her father, concerned for his family's safety, sent them to the United States in 1961—it would be six years until Dominguez's father joined his family in America. After graduating from Maryland's Montgomery-Blair High School in 1967, Dominguez attended the American University's School of International Service, earning a bachelor's degree in 1971. She also completed her master's degree at the school in 1997. She was also a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Advanced Study Program in Public Management.