Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives, NYC Commission on Human Rights
Brittny Saunders is Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives at the NYC Commission on Human Rights (“Commission”). At the Commission, Brittny manages key inter-agency partnerships and special projects related to data-driven discrimination and racial justice among others.
Before joining the Commission, Brittny worked for the Office of the Mayor, most recently as Acting Counsel to the Mayor. Prior to that, as Deputy Counsel, Brittny played a central role in the Office’s broadband equity efforts, working to ensure affordable access to high-speed internet for residents of the five boroughs. Brittny also helped craft legislation barring discrimination on the bases of credit and criminal history in the employment context, codifying the Commission on Gender Equity (“CGE”) and addressing other important challenges facing the city.
Before joining local government, Brittny worked for the Center for Popular Democracy (“CPD”), where she was Supervising Attorney for Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice, driving policy development and advocacy on a range of topics. Prior to that, Brittny was Senior Advocate at the Center for Social Inclusion (“CSI” now “RaceForward”), where she worked on disaster and emergency, broadband, transportation and transparency and accountability policies from a racial justice perspective.
Brittny was a 2010 Fellow in Media, Information & Communications Policy with the Rockwood Leadership Institute and a 2018 Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School. She has an A.B. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.