Clarissa M. Rodriguez, Esq. of Orange County is the Chair & Commissioner of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board and a member of New York Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Cabinet. Mrs. Rodriguez was confirmed as a Board member by the NYS Senate in 2016 and later elevated to head of the agency in 2017. She has since been reappointed by the Governor to serve another term through 2029.
The Workers' Compensation Board administers several insurance laws, including workers' compensation, disability benefits, and Paid Family Leave insurance. During her time at the Board, Mrs. Rodriguez has led the agency through several important legislative reforms and implementations, including the launch of New York's landmark Paid Family Leave, while also working to make significant improvements to the workers' compensation system.
Before joining the Board in 2016, Mrs. Rodriguez worked as a litigator for the Legal Aid Society of New York in their Foreclosure Prevention and Predatory Lending units. Mrs. Rodriguez also worked in the Civil and Matrimonial Parts of the Nassau County Supreme Court and the Integrated Domestic Violence Part of Queens County Criminal Court. She served with the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Office of the Attorney General, the City University of New York's (CUNY) Office of General Counsel, the Municipal Employees Legal Services at District Council 37, and the Urban Justice Center prior to joining the Bar.
Earlier in her career, Mrs. Rodriguez was the project editor/legislative liaison of the National PTA in Washington D.C. In addition, she was a community organizer with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition in Bronx, NY and the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in Brooklyn, NY before serving on their Board of Directors. She also worked as a social services counselor at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger in New York City. She currently chairs the New York Self-Insured Association's (NYSIA) Board of Managers, regularly providing the keynote address for their bi-annual legislative conference. Mrs. Rodriguez has also delivered keynote addresses for the Upstate Latino Summit and the La Liga 50th Anniversary Gala Benefit, in Syracuse, NY. She is a member of the Women's Bar Association of Orange & Sullivan County, the Dominican Bar Association of NY, the Hudson Valley Hispanic Bar Association, and the Hispanic National Bar Association, Region II.
Mrs. Rodriguez has received professional recognitions from the City & State NY publication, Law Power 100 list, the SOMOS Conference - Entre Nosotras Inc. luncheon, the NYS Senate, and from the Latino Lawyers of Queens County Bar Association, among others. Most recently, she received recognition from the NYS Assembly at the "Dominicans in Albany 2023" event and was nominated for the Schneps Media Leaders of Labor award in both 2022 and 2023. Mrs. Rodriguez is also the recipient of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Fellowship of the American Bar Association, and El Diario/La Prensa's 9th Annual NYC Outstanding Latina Award. She is a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law and holds a BA in Political Science and Women's Studies from the State University of New York, Purchase College.
Term expires December 2029