Biography

Stuart Ishimaru was the former Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). There, he also led the Office of Equal Opportunity and Fairness.

Prior to CFPB, Stuart was one of five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Stuart worked with colleagues to set Commission policy on a wide range of issues on equal employment opportunity to improve Commission operations involving large systemic cases, to improve Commission performance involving race discrimination, and to issue guidance on work/life balance and discrimination against caregivers. Stuart led working groups to improve services to immigrants and to improve the federal employee complaint process. He fought efforts to reduce protections for older workers, outsource governmental programs, and reduce important data collection requirements.

During his tenure as a Commissioner of the Commission, he was Acting Chairman, designated by President Obama. In that role, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, responsible for directing overall operations of the agency, with over 2300 employees and a budget of $367 million. Stuart led efforts to reinvigorate the agency by increasing staffing by 250 new front-line investigators, attorneys and support staff in 2009, and over 100 in 2010, creating a multi-million dollar training program for employees, and improving customer service and reducing backlog of complaints at the agency; led EEOC hearing on Age Discrimination in the 21st Century; issued regulations for public comment on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act; and testified before the House of Representatives in support of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, and before the Senate in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Stuart served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division and Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as Acting Staff Director for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Stuart worked as Counsel on the Judiciary Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and on the Subcommittee on Research and Technology on the Committee on Armed Services. He serves as the Council Leader for the U.S. Japan Council, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, American Bar Association, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, California State Bar, and is a long-time member of the Japanese American Citizens League.

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and The George Washington University Law School.

Articles, Publications, and Appearances

In the News

Stuart Ishimaru has appeared on C-SPAN on multiple occasions.