Amrith K. Aakre

Director

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Amrith Kaur Aakre, a dedicated public servant and national civil rights leader, serves as the Director for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Chicago District. Under Amrith’s leadership, the Chicago District enforces the agency’s mission across 6 states to ensure that workers who seek the EEOC's help in remedying employment discrimination obtain relief. As a Senior Executive Service member, she also works with the highest levels of federal government to shape and implement civil rights policies, develop litigation, and build relationships with vulnerable communities and stakeholders in preventing and combating workplace discrimination. Prior to this role, Amrith served as the Legal Director for the Sikh Coalition where she led high-impact litigation matters while managing initiatives to protect the civil rights of all Americans in areas such as employment and school discrimination, hate crimes, racial profiling, and bias-based policy issues. Prior to joining the Sikh Coalition, Amrith served as a prosecutor in Chicago's Cook County State’s Attorneys’ Office for over 11 years, during which time she led transformative efforts to create and expand access to restorative justice and rehabilitative courts. Amrith was recently selected as a 2024-2025 Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow, serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Illinois and the SABA Chicago Advisory Board, and is the recipient of the SABA North American 2022 Public Interest Achievement Award, and the SABA Chicago 2021 and 2023 Public Interest Lawyer Awards. A proud Chicagoan, she also coaches volleyball and track and field for the Chicago Public Schools.