THOMAS E. PEREZ

HISTORY/BACKGROUND

• Perez was born in Buffalo, New York and was a graduate of Brown University and Howard Law School
• He worked as a federal prosecutor, and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Attorney General Janet Reno
• He also worked as a Special Counselor for Senator Ted Kennedy until 1998.

JOB DESCRIPTION

• Thomas Perez is an American politician, consumer advocate and civil rights lawyer,
• He is also the head of the current United States Secretary of Labor.
• Perez has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

FAMILY

• Perez lives in Takoma Park, Maryland with his wife Ann Marie Staudenmaier
• She is an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
• Together they have Three Children, Amalia, Susana, and Rafael.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• He help ensure that our workplaces are safe and free from discrimination.
• He makes sure hard work is rewarded with a fair wage.
• He also gave people the chance to retire with dignity.

STAFF

• Acting Deputy Secretary of Labor- M. Patricia Smith
• Chief of Staff-Chief Matthew Colangelo
• Deputy Chief of Staff Seema Nanda
• Deputy Chief of Staff Mary Beth Maxwell
• Senior Counselor Sharon Block

POLITICAL PARTY

• Thomas Perez is in the Democratic Party

OTHER OCCUPATIONS

• Perez started his journey in government with being the Montgomery City Council
• Then followed to be in the Maryland Attorney General Campaign
• And was the Maryland Secretary of Labor before he became who he is today, the US Secretary of Labor

MISCELLANEOUS

• He previously served as the Secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
• He worked closely with business leaders, community colleges and nonprofits on a dramatic overhaul of Maryland's workforce development system
• He was the first Latino ever elected to the Council, and served as Council president in 2005.
• He prosecuted and supervised the prosecution of some of the Justice Department's most high profile civil rights cases, including a hate crimes case
• Perez was a law professor for six years at the University of Maryland School of Law

MISCELLANEOUS

• In 1987 he received a master's of public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government,
• Perez served on the committees for Health and Humans Services, and Transportation and the Environment.
• Perez commissioned a report led by the DLLR arguing that that the legalization of slots would be necessary to preserve Maryland's horse racing
• Perez was a top adviser to O'Malley on Maryland's healthcare workforce shortage.
• Perez helped develop a plan relieving the chronic shortage of nurses in Maryland.

SOURCES

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Perez
• http://www.dol.gov/_sec/