Expand AllClick here for a more accessible versionExecutive Director Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW
Chad Dion Lassiter is a nationally recognized expert in the field of American Race Relations. Lassiter has worked on race, peace, and poverty-related issues in the U.S., Africa, Canada, Haiti, Israel, and Norway, and is called upon frequently by media outlets to provide commentary on race relations and potential solutions.
Lassiter is the current Executive Director of the PHRC, where he has legislatively delegated authority to investigate filed complaints alleging the occurrence of unlawful discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and commercial property, education, and/or regarding public accommodations.
During his tenure in this position, he has developed and launched a "No Hate in Our State Townhall" to address the surge of White Nationalism in Pennsylvania and a "Social Justice Lecture Series" to provide an outlet for Pa. communities to discuss imperative issues. He also serves on a Racial Reduction Response team for those communities impacted by hatred.
He oversees a staff of 87 with three Regional Offices that serve the 67 counties in Pennsylvania. He also manages an annual budget of $12 million. Under his appointment, Lassiter has developed programs, such as a "Global Social Justice Initiative," "Black and Jewish Beloved Community Dialogue," and the "College Race Dialogue Initiative."
Lassiter received his master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Social Work, where he was the A. Phillip Randolph Award winner in 2001. He received his bachelor's degree in Social Work from Johnson C. Smith University in 1995.
Lassiter is a Co-founder and the current President of The University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice's Black Men at Penn, the first Ivy League black male group of social workers. This transcendent group seeks to recruit black males into the profession, provide anti-racism and violence-prevention training to urban and suburban schools around the country, and offer diversity and inclusion training for corporate entities and penal systems.
Lassiter has been recognized by the Philadelphia Tribune as "The Most Influential African American Leader from 2010-2020," as the "Young Leaders of the Future Under 30" by Ebony Magazine in 2003, and "Who's Who among African-Americans" 17th edition in 2004 with such notables as Colin Powell and Michael Jordan. On November 18, 2019, Lassiter was inducted into the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2021, Lassiter was named Social Worker of the Year by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and in 2022 was named to City and State's "The Power of Diverstiy Black 100" list.
Lassiter's previous work includes Executive Director of the Red Cross House with the American Red Cross of Eastern Pennsylvania and a Visiting Scholar at West Chester University in the Undergraduate School of Social Work. He was also a former contributing Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice, where he was the 2008 recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Involvement Award. He is a former research fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Collective Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he worked on two National Research Projects, P.L.A.A.Y. (Preventing Long Term Anger and Aggression in Youth) and H.I.P.P. (Health Information Providers and Promoters).
Lassiter has also held several Board of Trustees positions, which include his appointment as a member of the Board of Governors at St. Christopher Hospital for the Children (five years), Board of Trustees for the Philadelphia Prison System (eight years), and Board of Trustees for the Community College of Philadelphia (five years).
Lassiter is a pioneer in the fields of social work, social justice, and race relations where he hopes to continue to impact and empower.
Email: classiter@pa.gov
Special Assistant to Executive Director Zulay Rojas
In her role as Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Zulay Rojas is a member of the Beloved Community. This role affords her the opportunity to listen intently and assist those in need with empathy.
During a selfless service to our nation in the Armed Forces, her boots were stationed in the Mesopotamian sands of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. After nine years of serving in the military, she hung up the uniform and started her journey into civil service.
As a Criminal Justice Scholar, she discovered the importance of equal rights for all and joined the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
It is here that she can live out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s realistic vision of the Beloved Community, one in which "caring and compassion drive political policies that support worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence. A state of heart and mind, a spirit of hope and goodwill that transcends all boundaries and barriers and embraces all creation."
Email: zrojas@pa.gov
Deputy Chief Counsel Morgan Williams
As Deputy Chief Counsel, Morgan Williams supervises a team of attorneys and works with Chief Counsel to manage the Commission's legal department. She strives to streamline the litigation process and improve outcomes for victims of discrimination.
Prior to serving in her role as Deputy Chief Counsel, Williams was a senior prosecutor with the Commission and has handled complex litigation and appeals. Williams came to the Commission in 2014 after spending some time in private practice and after working with our partners at the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission.
She is a graduate of Widener University School of Law in Delaware.
Deputy Chief Counsel Williams serves the people of the Commonwealth out of our Pittsburgh Regional Office.
Email: morganwill@pa.gov
Director of Enforcement Kurt Jung, Esq.
Kurt Jung is the Director of Enforcement for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC). As a Senior Manager, he is responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures for PHRC programs designed to enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
Prior to coming to the Commission, he worked for the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, where he held positions as an Investigator, Civil Rights Trial Attorney, Enforcement Supervisor, State and Local Program Manager, and Administrative Judge. As a Trial Attorney, he litigated cases in Federal court on behalf of aggrieved individuals and the EEOC. In his role as an Administrative Judge, he was responsible for adjudicating cases filed by federal employees against their agencies.
Jung previously managed the EEOC contracts with 12 State and Local Fair Employment Practice Agencies including PHRC, as an EEOC State and Local Program Manager. With a passion for Civil Rights, he spoke at various Community Events and Programs involving the Asian American/Pacific Islander and Deaf Communities concerning disability and discrimination law.
He is currently the founder and the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the West Jersey Music Academy, a non-profit music school with the mission of bring music instruction and performance to all peoples, including the disabled, the indigent, and the elderly. He is a graduate of Temple University School of Law.
Hearing Examiner Darlene Hemerka, Esq.
Darlene Hemerka, Esquire brings a passion for equity and inclusion to her role as a Hearing Examiner for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC). Hemerka became an attorney to enforce civil rights laws. Part of her passion stems from the fact that she was born with Cerebral Palsy and uses a walker to ambulate.
Prior to joining the PHRC, Hemerka was a staff attorney at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled. Her responsibilities included overseeing the intake line, educating families and practitioners on alternatives to guardianship for adults with disabilities and representing tenants in municipal court and in front of the Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission.
Hemerka also worked at the Public Interest Law Center (Law Center). She began her time at the Law Center as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. As a fellow, she designed a project to ensure that students with disabilities ages 14-21 received appropriate "transition services;" activities designed to prepare the student for employment and further education. After completing her fellowship, Hemerka became a staff attorney at the Law Center and worked on education cases.
Before joining the Law Center, Hemerka was a judicial law clerk at the Superior Court of New Jersey. She conducted mediation in small claims cases, drafted orders in family matters and communicated with attorneys and self-represented litigants.
Email: dhemerka@pa.gov
Hearing Examiner Tamara
Shehadeh-Cope, Esq.
Tamara Shehadeh-Cope, Esq. comes to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) with a passion for human rights advocacy and furthering social justice causes. Shehadeh-Cope has dedicated much of her career to the practice of immigration law and serving particularly vulnerable noncitizens throughout the Commonwealth. She has worked diligently to provide trauma-informed advocacy to crime victims and to facilitate access to free legal services, both of which are very important to her.
Prior to joining the PHRC, Shehadeh-Cope worked at Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) in various capacities. In her role as Supervising Attorney for PIRC's Community Programs, Shehadeh-Cope represented undocumented and noncitizen survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and similar crimes before the United States Citizenship and Immigrant Service (USCIS) and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR). She worked closely with clients in obtaining legal relief under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act while supervising a team of attorneys and Department of Justice (DOJ) Accredited Representatives doing the same.
Additionally, Shehadeh-Cope worked as a staff attorney with the Removal Defense Program, where she provided Know-Your-Rights presentations and information to detained immigrants throughout the Commonwealth as part of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) at the Department of Justice. Through her work in removal defense, Shehadeh-Cope successfully represented many asylum-seekers and noncitizen detainees in immigration court.
Shehadeh-Cope also worked as Managing Immigration Attorney at Community Justice Project (CJP), a part of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN), where she served immigrant domestic violence survivors in their immigration cases before USCIS and EOIR. Shehadeh-Cope engaged in extensive outreach, connecting with domestic violence shelters and service providers throughout Commonwealth to provide educational trainings to staff and community stakeholders.
A graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and Fordham University, Shehadeh-Cope looks forward to contributing to the PHRC's continuing work towards a diverse, just, and inclusive Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
E-mail: tshehadehc@pa.gov
Director
of Education Desireé Chang, M.S.
Desireé Chang serves as the Director of Education for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. She has been with the PHRC for three years. Prior to becoming the Director of Education, she worked as a Civil Rights Mediator with the Mediation Division. During her tenure at the PHRC, Chang has received the Director of Excellence Award (2020) and PHRC Social Justice Team Award (2021). She is a graduate of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Institute (2021) and has been recognized for her participation on several committees and community social justice collaborative efforts.
Chang's educational acquisitions include an Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice, summa cum laude, obtained from HACC Lancaster. As well as, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Legal Studies from Drexel University, both magna cum laude. She is a member of several academic honor societies.
Prior to the PHRC, she worked as an adult Probation and Parole Officer with a specialized caseload of individuals with developmental and mental health disabilities. In addition, she has a background in substance abuse counseling. She has served as a facilitator for trauma informed responses and has been a certified trainer in Motivational Interviewing and Moral Recognation Therapy. She enjoys public speaking and volunteering at women's shelters.
Much of Chang's professional career has been in roles that include assistance for, or advocating of, special interest groups. Her passions are married at the PHRC with the ability to educate Pennsylvanians and actively work towards eradicating discrimination both inside and outside of the Commonwealth.
Email:
dchang@pa.gov
Director of Fair Housing and Commercial Property Adrian Garcia
Adrian Garcia serves as PHRC's Director of Fair Housing and Commercial Property Division and has enjoyed a long career focused on assuring equal consideration and representation at every level. Experience in human relations, advertising, marketing, insurance and financial products and his degree from Palmer Business Institute have allowed him to serve his community locally and beyond -always with a focus on markets of inclusion.
As Specialty Marketing Manager for Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Garcia chaired the Diversity and Inclusion Work Group which worked on ensuring fair representation in the hiring and promoting of a diverse staff in their retail and corporate divisions.
After 5 years with AAP, Garcia returned to Lancaster, PA where he worked as Development Officer for the local Hispanic Public Radio Station, SACA Broadcast Station Corporation. Garcia was subsequently hired as an Intake officer of the Lancaster County Human Relations Commission, and later became an investigator working on employment discrimination cases and assisting as an interpreter for housing cases, which included translating complaints and other documents. He translated the Landlord/Tenants Rights and Responsibilities Manual, which is now known as the Know Your Rights Landlord and Tenant Guide. Garcia was the Education Committee Liaison working with over 15 school districts throughout Lancaster County.
In 2016, Garcia joined Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership (LHOP) as its director of Housing Equality & Equity Institute, where he led the effort of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing through programmatic advocacy where Garica sought ways to breathe life into the AFFH.
In 2018 Garcia applied for and secured the Fair Housing Initiatives Program designation from HUD. This was a game changer as it allowed LHOP to expand its fair housing education and outreach initiatives in York county including The Rental Advantage Course and the Eviction Prevention Network. For these programs Garcia received the 2019 Innovator Award from Fine Dinning Lancaster Magazine. The Eviction Prevention Network model has become the framework for addressing COVID19 evictions.
For his work in various communities across the nation and here at home, Adrian has received the following awards:
- NAACP Image Award for Business, Roanoke, VA
- Frank C Sumy Award from the Urban League of Lancaster.
- LULAC Leadership Award, Memphis, TN
- Compañeros Award, Atlanta, GA
- Community Stewardship Award, AUSA, Roanoke, VA
- Innovator Award, Lancaster, PA
- City and State's 50 Over 50 2021 PA Power List
Email: adrgarcia@pa.gov
Pittsburgh Regional Office Director Lyle Wood
Lyle Wood is the Director of the Pittsburgh Regional Office of the PA Human Relations Commission, where he directs the enforcement of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act overseeing 26 counties in Western PA.
Wood was a member of the first wave of African American students to integrate Pittsburgh’s public elementary and secondary schools. By the end of his junior year, he was elected Taylor Allderdice High School’s first African American student government president, serving during his senior year.
While a student at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in History, Wood was active in many areas. He joined Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, earned a varsity letter in track and field and was the first African American Secretary of the Inter Fraternity Council. He was the NAACP fundraising Chair, the co-chair of the West African Drought Relief Fund and a Fulbright Grantee for Project Afghanistan sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, studying at the University of Kabul. Lyle was selected as a Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
Before coming to the Commission, Wood was a General Manager in the property management division of builder/developer Crossgates, Inc. Subsequent to his four years at Crossgates, Inc. Wood also worked as the senior housing counselor at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh’s, County Housing Counseling unit assigned to comprehensive housing counseling issues and conducted default/delinquent mortgage counseling for eight years.
On January 19, 1989, Wood began with the Pennsylvania Human Relation Commission as an investigator, investigating housing related discrimination complaints. He was appointed Investigative Supervisor, expanding to all other areas within the Commission’s jurisdiction. He has served as Regional Director since July 2016.
Harrisburg Regional Office Director Heather Roth
Heather Roth joined the PHRC in January of 2013 as the Regional Director for the Harrisburg region. The Harrisburg Regional office serves 36 counties in PA. Roth's role is to direct and manage the investigative work of the staff as well as to conduct outreach and training for the communities in which the office serves.
Prior to this role, Roth spent 15+ years in the field of Human Resources Management. She served in multiple senior manager roles and directed the human resources functions for multi-site and multi-state organizations. As a District Human Resources Manager for The Home Depot, she oversaw the HR operations of eight store locations in Central PA which employed more than 1,000 employees. She also served as a certified management trainer and worked on special employee relations projects throughout the PA/NJ region.
As the Manager of Store Support - Human Resources for Ollie's Bargain Outlet she oversaw the HR functions for 111 stores in 12 states which employed more than 3,000 employees. Roth was instrumental in developing HR policies and documents as well as keeping the organization compliant with state and Federal laws. Roth also served as a Market Area Human Resources Manager for Interstate Waste Services (now Advanced Disposal) overseeing the PA and MD markets.
Roth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University where she studied Public Relations. Roth has held professional certifications in human resources since 2004. She obtained her SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) certification from the Human Resource Certification Institute in 2010.
Roth was accepted as a member of the Mid Atlantic ADA Leadership Network in 2016.
Roth received two awards from the Commonwealth in 2016 including a “Transformation Award” from the Governor’s Office of Innovation and the “Education and Outreach Award” from the Commission for her work in educating the public.
Philadelphia Regional Office Director Robert Lindsey
Robert Lindsey serves as the director of the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. In addition to managing the operations of the office, this role allows Lindsey to continue his personal and professional path of serving and functioning in core human relations domains – specifically equal employment opportunity, diversity and inclusion, civil rights, and social Justice.
Lindsey has held positions within the public and private sectors which he says has heightened his desire and commitment to address biased and unfounded prejudicial assumptions which unfortunately have led to discriminatory paradigms throughout the world we live in today.
Director Lindsey’s academic background includes earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee with a major in philosophy concurrent with a commission in the U.S. Army. He started his career at what was at that point his most rewarding assignment, working as the Operations and Chief Test Management Officer of the Philadelphia Military Entrance Processing Station.
Since that time Director Lindsey has held positions of increasing authority and responsibility within the Human Resource Management field. Prior to joining the PHRC team, he served as the Strategic and Operations Human Resource Business Partner/Consultant for Next Generation Corporation, a diversified management consulting/advisory firm.
Recently, Lindsey completed a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Southern New Hampshire University, focusing on course work as it applied to cultural diversity, law, and ethics, thus reaffirming interest and commitment to addressing the factors that enable and sustain our social contract of living in a society centered in justice, equality, and fairness.
Email:
Roberlinds@pa.govDirector of Communications Amanda Brothman
Amanda Brothman serves as Director of Communications for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission with responsibility for leading statewide integrated communications, marketing, public relations, and media strategies. Likewise, she directs production of the PHRC Annual Report, the Annual No Hate in our State/Building the Beloved Community Report, and a monthly staff newsletter.
Brothman has more than a decade of communications experience. From 2010-2013, she worked as a writer, producer, and executive producer at WPMT, FOX43 in York, Pa; from 2014-2015, she was the 5 p.m. producer at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Md; and from 2015-2021 she was an executive producer at WHTM in Harrisburg, Pa. Additionally she was a media specialist for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2021-2022.
A graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.
Email: ambrothman@pa.gov