Clarissa M. Rodriguez, Esq. of Orange County is the Chair of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, which administers workers' compensation, disability benefits and Paid Family Leave insurance. During her time at the Board, Mrs. Rodriguez has led the agency through a number of 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. As a member of the Governor's cabinet, she also represents the Governor in public speaking events throughout the state including issuing addresses on the State of the State and State Budget annually.
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 Unit. 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 Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project of the Urban Justice Center, among others, 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 for the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in Brooklyn, NY and the North West Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition in Bronx, NY, as well as a social services counselor at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger in New York City. She sat on the Board of Directors of the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation from 2012 to 2017 and 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 the keynote addresses for the 2019 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 Counties, the Dominican Bar Association of NYC, the Hudson Valley Hispanic Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association of the State of New York.
Mrs. Rodriguez has received professional recognitions from the City & State New York publication, Law Power 100 list, the SOMOS El Futuro Legislative Conference - Entre Nosotras Inc., the New York State Senate and from the Latino Lawyers of Queens County Bar Association. She 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. Most recently, Ms. Rodriguez was nominated for the Schneps Media 2022 Leaders of Labor 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 at Purchase College.
Term expired December 2022