Ida L. Castro
Ida L. Castro was chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from October 23, 1998 to August 13, 2001.[1]
Early life
Castro received a B.A. degree from the University of Puerto Rico, and M.A. and J.D. degrees from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
Career
Prior to joining the EEOC, Ms. Castro served as the Acting Director of the Women's Bureau at the United States Department of Labor from 1996 to 1998. She also served at Department of Labor as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs from 1994 to 1996.
Prior to her service for the Administration, Ms. Castro worked as a labor and employment lawyer as well as a professor. She was the first Hispanic woman to earn tenure as an Associate Professor at Rutgers University, Institute for Management and Labor Relations. During her extensive career as an attorney, she held the following positions: Senior Legal Counsel for Legal Affairs, Health and Hospital Corporation of New York City, the nation's largest municipal health care system; Special Counsel to the President and Director of Labor Relations, Hostos Community College, City University of New York; Associate counsel, Eisner, Levy, Pollack and Ratner; and Associate Counsel, Giblin and Giblin.
Ms. Castro has also held leadership positions in a number of Hispanic organizations. She founded the first Hispanic women's group in New Jersey and was the first Hispanic appointed by that state's governor to the New Jersey Commission on the Status of Women. Among the numerous awards she has received for her advocacy on behalf of minorities and women is the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Puerto Rican Legal and Education Fund.