Thomas Perez — 2016 Whittington Lecture

Secretary Perez has driven transformative labor and civil rights policy throughout his distinguished career. As U.S. Secretary of Labor, he expanded overtime protections for millions of workers, implemented the fiduciary rule protecting retirement savings and established wage increases and paid sick leave for federal contractors. Previously, as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, he prosecuted employment discrimination cases and safeguarded voting rights while taking record-setting enforcement actions. He successfully mediated the 2016 Verizon strike resolution and championed comprehensive workplace safety reforms that strengthened protections for American workers nationwide.

For the 2016 Whittington Lecture, he spoke on the need for diversity and shared prosperity, and its connections to creating successful policies and programs.