The EEOC at 60: Honoring the Past, Defending the Future

July 9, 2025

Marking a Milestone: 60 Years of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

For 60 years, the EEOC has worked to uphold the vision that all people deserve equal opportunity in the workplace. That mission remains as urgent today as it was when we first opened our doors.

As we take this time to reflect on all that our agency has accomplished over the years, I want to recognize that you have made it all possible. It is thanks to your efforts that thousands have gained access to the American dream: the chance to have a meaningful career, take care of their families, and accomplish their goals. 

Thank you to our panelists for sharing your stories and for the example you have set through your service. Your dedication has helped shape the EEOC’s legacy and laid a strong foundation for the future.

To our many guests here today—in person and online—thank you for joining us to mark this important milestone. Your presence today reaffirms the shared commitment to equality and justice that defines our mission. 

Working alongside the dedicated staff of the EEOC and building on the strong foundation laid by my predecessors, I am confident we will continue advancing workplaces that uphold equal opportunity, merit, and respect for the rule of law.

Andrea Lucas, EEOC Acting Chair

Schedule of Events

2:00 PM Welcome
- Christopher Lage, Deputy General Counsel, EEOC Office of the General Counsel
2:05 PM Color Guard and National Anthem
- U.S. Navy Honor Guard
2:15 PM Introductory Remarks
- Andrea Lucas, EEOC Acting Chair
- Kalpana Kotagal, EEOC Commissioner
2:25 PM Video Presentation
- 60 Years of Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
2:30 PM Panel Discussion
- Moderator
  Thomas Colclough, Director, EEOC Office of Field Programs
- Partnerships and Collaboration in Action
  Dexter Brooks, former Associate Director, EEOC Office of Federal Operations
- Major Milestones in EEOC Enforcement
  Gwendolyn Young Reams, Associate General Counsel, EEOC Office of the General Counsel
- The Role of Education and Outreach in Advancing Workplace Rights
  Nicole St. Germain, Lead Outreach and Education Coordinator, EEOC Los Angeles District Office
3:00 PM Video Presentation
- David Kelley, EEOC Administrative Judge
3:10 PM Closing Remarks
- Andrea Lucas, EEOC Acting Chair

Light refreshments will be served following the program.

Panel Moderator

Thomas Colclough

Thomas Colclough was born in Smithfield, North Carolina and raised in the small rural agricultural community of Zebulon, North Carolina. In 1985, he joined the United States Army and through that experience, he decided to further his education. After his three-year active duty military assignment, he continued his military career in the Army Reserves and North Carolina National Guard.

He graduated from Saint Augustine’s University in 1989 with a degree in Business Administration. During his time at Saint Augustine’s University, Colclough was given the unique opportunity to work as a Stay-In-School student with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After graduation, Thomas was hired by EEOC as an Investigator.

In 1998, Colclough was promoted to the position of Enforcement Supervisor. Thereafter, Colclough was promoted to various positions, e.g., Local Director – Greensboro, Area Director Raleigh, Systemic Coordinator, Deputy District Director, District Director of the Charlotte District and the Director of Field Management Programs. In October 2024, Colclough began his tenure in the position of Director, Office of Field Programs.

Colclough is also a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College and the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Executive Institute. In 2005, he retired from the North Carolina National Guard after 23 years of service (active, reserve and guard) at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 2012, he earned his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Panelists

Dexter Brooks

Dexter Brooks Dexter R. Brooks, recently retired from the Senior Executive Service, where he served as the Associate Director of the Office of Federal Operations, Federal Sector Programs at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Federal Sector Programs has a unique role in assisting federal administrative agencies in the development of strategies designed to proactively prevent discrimination and allow federal employees to compete on a fair and level playing field.

Prior to this assignment, he served as the Federal Training and Outreach Coordinator and Attorney Advisor within Federal Sector Programs. Brooks was responsible for establishing EEOC’s Federal Sector Training Institute which provides a variety of fee-based courses to the federal sector EEO community. He also served as primary contact to the Commission’s federal sector stakeholders providing hundreds of outreach sessions throughout the country.

His EEOC career began in 1998, as a staff attorney in the Office of Federal Operation’s Appellate Review Program. Before joining the EEOC, Brooks served as an Attorney Advisor for the U.S. Department of Labor in its Office of Administrative Law Judges. He received his Juris Doctor from Howard University, and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from North Carolina A&T State University.

Gwendolyn Young Reams

Gwendolyn Young Reams is currently Associate General Counsel for Litigation Management Services and served as Acting General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021 and from 2022-2023. Since her appointment to the Senior Executive Service in 1986, Reams has served as a vital and transformative leader in EEOC’s litigation program. As the Associate General Counsel for Litigation Management Services, she oversees and supports the Commission’s court enforcement program in the agency’s field legal units and ensures their integration into the investigative enforcement structure of EEOC Field Offices. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing guidance and support to the 15 regional attorneys in all aspects of litigation, including developing and litigating cases under the agency’s Strategic Enforcement Plan. Reams has served in this position for the past 25 years.

Previously, she served as Associate General Counsel for Appellate Litigation Services for 10 years, where she was responsible for directing the agency’s national appellate litigation program including the filing of amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the Commission and coordinating with the Solicitor General’s office on briefs filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the EEOC. During her extensive 50-year career with the Commission’s Office of General Counsel, Reams has overseen an unprecedented quantity of high impact litigation and her superior leadership has resulted in many precedent-setting decisions and resolutions.

Reams began her career as a law clerk with the EEOC in 1972, after receiving her Juris Doctor from the American University’s Washington College of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and is a native of Charleston, S.C.

On Sept. 30, 2022, Reams was awarded the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive for her exemplary leadership in the Office of General Counsel in support of EEOC’s critical missions.

Nicole St. Germain

Nicole St. Germain serves as the Lead Outreach and Education Coordinator and Public Relations Manager for the Los Angeles District of the EEOC. She oversees the education and outreach initiatives along with public relations for the Los Angeles District, which includes central and southern California, southern Nevada, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, Wake Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

St. Germain joined the EEOC in 2009 and has held the positions of Enforcement Investigator and Systemic Investigator. She was appointed to the position of Outreach & Education Coordinator and Public Relations Manager in 2016 and is a sought-after trainer and subject matter expert. In 2022 she was detailed to the Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs as a Public Affairs Specialist. Also in 2022, St. Germain received the EEOC’s Emerging Leader Award, a prestigious national award recognizing her commitment to the agency’s mission.

Prior to joining the EEOC, she was a Probation/Parole Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia. St. Germain holds a graduate degree in Forensic Psychology, undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Criminal Justice, and is fluent in American Sign Language.

Video Presenter

David Kelley

David Kelley graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law and began his career with the federal government in July 1971 in the trial attorney honors program with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, primarily working with colleagues to enforce the Fair Housing Act of 1968. He also worked as a Federal elections observer in several Southern states.

In July 1977, Kelley joined the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a trial attorney in the EEOC’s San Francisco Litigation Center, which later became the San Francisco District Office. For the next 24 years he worked alongside investigators in San Francisco, Oakland and Fresno to develop cases for litigation, including trials of class cases throughout the U.S. on sex, race, age, equal pay, or disability discrimination against some of the nation’s largest employers. In June 2001, he became an administrative judge in the Federal Sector Program where he remains at this time.

In addition to his work with the EEOC, since 1990 Kelley has served as a consultant to the State Bar of California for grading and question development of the California bar examination. He has also served as an early neutral evaluator and mediator for the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California since 2002.

Outside of work, Kelley has been active for nearly 40 years in Bible study fellowship and has served in several San Francisco Bay-area churches with his family. He also tends to tens of thousands of bees as a long-time beekeeper.