Junish A. Arora is currently Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (CDO) at the Department of Commerce (DOC). In that capacity, he promotes DEIA in the Department’s externally-focused mission areas and service delivery, including supporting outreach to historically underserved communities; and develops and implements an internal DEIA strategy to fully integrate and sustain DEIA and belonging into the agency’s workforce.

Before joining DOC, Mr. Arora held numerous positions in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including serving as Deputy Director, Strategic Recruitment, Diversity, and Inclusion (SRDI), Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO). In that role, Mr. Arora promoted diversity within DHS for its more than 210,000 employees; lead the implementation of the DHS D&I Strategic Plan; ensured Components’ recruitment strategies draw from diverse groups, veterans, and individuals with disabilities; and provided oversight for the analysis of a full range of D&I metrics. Before joining OCHCO, DHS, Mr. Arora held positions in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), DHS, as Director, Diversity Management Section (DMS), Senior EEO Diversity Manager, and Senior EEO Complaints Manager.

Prior to working for DHS, Mr. Arora served in various EEO positions within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), DOC, where he joined as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF, Class of 2000) and served as EEO Specialist, Final Agency Decision (FAD) Writer, and Special Assistant to the Director. 

He was also a member of the Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN) SES Developmental Program; the DHS Fellows Program, a partnership between the Department and the Council for Excellence in Government; and served on a one-year detail as Deputy Chief, Intelligence Community (IC) Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity (EEOD), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), a position within the Senior National Intelligence Service (SNIS). 

Mr. Arora received his B.A. in English from Dartmouth College, his M.A. in English from the University of Virginia, and his J.D. from The School of Law at the University of Texas at Austin.  He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.  He was also Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Army Reserves.  He is married and has two raven-haired angels.