Mayor Eric Garcetti Monday nominated Capri Maddox, a senior adviser to the city attorney, as executive director of the city’s newly formed Department of Civil and Human Rights.

Capri Maddox, a former president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, currently oversees initiatives that include the City Attorney Business Support program and attorney recruitment and outreach efforts.

“We can never turn away from the fight to end discrimination wherever it lives, and I’m grateful to Mayor Garcetti for this opportunity to put my professional experience, my relationships and my heart to work for the people of our city,” Maddox said in a statement released by the mayor’s office. “We’ll put everything we’ve got into strengthening our response to inequality and building new partnerships to protect Angelenos from injustice.”

The department will be tasked with protecting Angelenos and anyone who works in or visits the city from discrimination that denies equal treatment in private employment, housing, education, or commerce by initiating and investigating complaints of discrimination, as well as enforcing the city’s civil and human rights laws.

“Capri’s intellect and powerful sense of justice and equality will make her an outstanding leader of the Department of Civil and Human Rights,” Garcetti said. “Everyone in Los Angeles should live free of discrimination that denies basic human dignity and violates our rights as Americans. We will stand up for each other and put our values at the center of all the work that the department will do.”

The executive director will also support and advise the Civil and Human Rights Commission and work closely alongside government leaders.

The appointment is subject to City Council confirmation.

“Capri not only has the leadership experience necessary to excel in this role, but also the temperament and the unyielding desire for justice that the leader of our Department of Civil and Human Rights should have,” Councilman Herb Wesson said. “With Capri at the helm of this new department, I know we will hit the ground running from day one. She does not know how to fail.”

Maddox created the city’s Foster Care Diversion Program; organized the City Attorney Faith Based Council; addressed key Neighborhood Council and City Council requests; participated in criminal and civil cases; and coordinated school safety efforts with the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to the mayor’s office.

Maddox holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a masters degree in public administration from Cal State Los Angeles, and earned a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.

>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!