The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has announced Wednesday the appointment of Amber J.E. Harris as its interim executive director, in what the agency cast as a stabilizing move amid a string of high-level departures and an ongoing probe into its spending.
Leadership at the state’s civil rights agency was upended this year after Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration requested the resignation of Chad Lassiter, the commission’s executive director since 2018. Four commissioners who oversee the agency also stepped down in recent months, creating eight vacancies on the 11-member oversight board.
The three remaining commissioners voted on June 30 to install Harris, a relative newcomer to PHRC, as the temporary head of the agency. The agency announced her appointment on Wednesday.
Debate flared in Harrisburg in February over concerns about the PHRC use of taxpayer dollars to attend and sponsor an event, which honored Lassiter, with another civil rights groups.
Emails show Lassiter instructed his staff to bypass state spending rules to secure taxpayer-funded tables for himself and his team at an awards banquet hosted by the Philadelphia NAACP.
Lassiter said the payments were both proper and aligned the agency’s mission. The NAACP ultimately provided the tables at no cost to taxpayers. The governor’s office has not announced findings from the audit.
Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. — a longtime member of the commission who was named interim chair during the shake-up — said Harris will be instrumental in “easing tensions and stabilizing the agency following a period of uncertainty,” according to a statement posted on social media.
Jones did not respond to a request for additional comment on Thursday. The commissioners will lead a search process to determine a permanent replacement, said PHRC spokesperson Amanda Brothman Jumper.
» READ MORE: How a $20,000 expense for an awards gala upended Pa.’s civil rights enforcement agency
Harris will be “focused on ensuring operational continuity, supporting staff, and maintaining the Commission’s commitment to enforcing Pennsylvania’s civil rights laws,” Brothman Jumper said.
Harris was hired in April 2025 as regional director of the commission’s Philadelphia office, overseeing civil rights complaints filed in eastern Pennsylvania. Before that, she spent a decade as a human relations specialist at the U.S. Social Security Administration, worked at American Airlines, and co-founded a nonprofit, according to her LinkedIn page.
Harris said in a statement that she will focus on providing stability to PHRC’s staff of investigators and attorneys, who mediate potential civil rights violations in places of employment, housing, education, and accommodations.
“I believe moments of transition can also be moments of opportunity,” Harris said.
PHRC’s executive director is chosen by the commissioners, who are nominated by the governor and require approval from the state Senate.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said the administration has submitted several nominations to fill the vacant commissioner seats.
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