Evangeline Hawthorne Named New  EEOC Tampa Field Office Director

New Director to Focus on Enforcing Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws and Reaching Out to Stakeholders in Greater Tampa Area

TAMPA, Fla. - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that Evangeline Hawthorne has been named director of its Tampa Field Office in the agency's Miami District, effective today.

As director of the Tampa Field Office, Hawthorne is responsible for promoting equality of opportunity in the workplace and enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination in 23 central and western Florida counties. She was previously appointed as EEOC's national outreach coordinator in Washington D.C., and has served in various high-level positions within the agency.

Hawthorne began her career in civil rights and equal employment opportunity 20 years ago with the Delaware Department of Labor, a Fair Employment Practice Agency, serving as an investigator and as a supervisor. She began her EEOC career 17 years ago with the agency's Philadelphia District Office, where she worked as an investigator and then enforcement supervisor for the Baltimore Field Office. Hawthorne later worked for the Office of Field Programs, at the agency's Washington headquarters, serving as a program analyst and later acting deputy director for the Washington Field Office. Hawthorne most recently served as the agency's national outreach coordinator. 

"Evangeline Hawthorne has proven herself to be an extraordinary leader in the civil rights arena," said Michael Farrell, director of EEOC's Miami District Office. "Her genuine commitment to equality in the workplace, combined with her extensive experience in every aspect of EEOC's law enforcement activities, make her a natural choice to lead EEOC's Tampa Field Office."

Farrell continued, "Ms. Hawthorne has dedicated the past 20 years of her career to advancing EEOC's mission of eradicating discrimination in the workplace. She has excelled in every position she has held with EEOC from a front-line investigator all the way through to upper-level management. This incredible breadth of experience has not only provided her with a strong command of the laws EEOC enforces, but has also given her an expertise in EEOC procedures that can only matched by a handful of select leaders in our field."

Hawthorne said, "I am excited and honored to join the Tampa Field Office as well as the Miami District Office. I am looking forward to working with employees and the business community in our efforts to stop and remedy illegal employment discrimination in this fast-growing and important region."

EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.