2019 Nonprofit Power 100

Carmelyn P. Malalis was appointed Chair and Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) by Mayor Bill de Blasio in November 2014 following more than a decade in private practice as an advocate for employees' rights in the workplace. Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Malalis was a partner at Outten & Golden LLP where she co-founded and co-chaired its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Workplace Rights Practice Group and its Disability and Family Responsibilities Discrimination Practice Group; and successfully represented employees in negotiations, agency proceedings, and litigation involving claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, disability, and religion. Throughout her career, Commissioner Malalis has demonstrated a fierce commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion and preventing and prosecuting discrimination and intolerance. Since she assumed her role as Chair and Commissioner at the Commission in February 2015, Commissioner Malalis has revitalized the agency, making it a recognized venue for justice for all New Yorkers through increased enforcement and robust public education and outreach to prevent discrimination in New York City. She has previously served on the New York City Bar Association's Executive Committee, Human Rights Watch's Advisory Committee of the LGBT Rights Project, the American Bar Association's Section on Labor and Employment Law Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession, the New York City Bar's Committee on LGBT Rights, and the board of Queers for Economic Justice. Commissioner Malalis earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and received a B.A. in Women's Studies from Yale University. She and her wife live in Brooklyn with their two children.