What the D.C. Commission on Human Rights does, and who the six nominees are

The Committee on Public Works and Operations on Nov. 18 heard the committee chair summarize the role and powers of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights before approving six nominees. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau said the commission adjudicates public- and private-sector discrimination complaints brought under the DC Human Rights Act and can conduct secondary reviews, hold public investigations and hearings, make recommendations to the mayor and council, and promulgate rules implementing the act.

Nadeau presented short biographies of each nominee, describing professional and community experience that she said qualified them for three-year commissioner terms. She said Mr. Singh Utarawala leads anti-hate work at Asian Americans Advancing Justice and served at the DOJ Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Alexis Gardner is an assistant federal public defender who helped launch Still She Rises in Tulsa and has trial experience; Carmen Moreno Sanz is a Spanish teacher active in refugee and gender-equality advocacy; Sean Norman is a deaf advocate and leader in the D.C. deaf community; Jasmine Lee Scott is a community support worker and former firefighter/EMT launching a nonprofit; and Isabelle Vladeau is an international human-rights specialist and founder of the U.S. Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights.

Nadeau noted commissioners serve three-year terms and said the mayor is required by law to select individuals with demonstrated backgrounds in anti-discrimination law. The committee also noted a prior public roundtable on Sept. 26, 2025 where each nominee testified. After the presentation the committee approved all six nominees in a single voice vote.