Leadership Bios
M. Patricia Smith Solicitor of Labor
M. Patricia Smith was confirmed by the Senate as the Solicitor of Labor on February 4, 2010, and assumed her duties on March 1, 2010. Prior to becoming the Solicitor of Labor, Ms. Smith was the New York State Commissioner of Labor for three years.
Prior to serving as Commissioner of Labor she served as Chief of the Labor Bureau in the Office of the New York State Attorney General for eight years. In that position, she developed a system of active government labor law enforcement that became a model for other Attorneys General and enforcement agencies. For 11 years, she served as Deputy Bureau Chief and Section Chief of the Labor Bureau, conducting and overseeing all aspects of labor law litigation involving New York State, in state and federal trial and appellate courts. In 1996 and 1997 she argued and won two Employment Retirement Income Security Act cases before the United States Supreme Court.
Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, she worked for various Legal Services Organizations representing unemployment claimants, minimum wage workers, workers in federal job training programs and job seekers.
She graduated, cum laude, from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. in 1974 and from New York University School of Law, with honors, in 1977.
Sara Manzano-Diaz Director of the Women's Bureau
Sara Manzano-Diaz was confirmed on February 11, 2010, as Director of the Women's Bureau. The Womens Bureau was created by law in 1920 to formulate standards and policies to promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employment. She comes to the bureau with the vision of empowering all working women to achieve economic security.
Previously, Ms. Manzano-Diaz was appointed by Governor Edward G. Rendell as Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Programs at the Pennsylvania Department of State. As the highest-ranking Latina in Pennsylvania state government, Ms. Manzano-Diaz was responsible for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public by overseeing the licensure of approximately 1 million professionals. She was also a member of Governor Rendells STEM Initiative Team that supports the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and workforce development programs.
From 1995 to 2002, Ms. Manzano-Diaz served as Deputy General Counsel for Civil Rights and Litigation at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she enforced fair housing, civil rights, and anti-discrimination laws. While at HUD, she implemented a compliance agreement against the largest public housing authority in the country that resulted in the creation of 9,000 disabled housing units in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
She also previously served as an Assistant Attorney General in New York and a Pro Se Attorney in the New York State Judiciary.
Ms. Manzano-Diaz has spent her career in public service advocating on behalf of working class families, women, and girls. She served as co-chair of The Forum of Executive Womens Mentoring Committee, which mentors young professional women as they begin their careers, and also participated in Madrinas, a program that provides mentors for at-risk Latina girls to encourage them to finish high school and attend college.
Ms. Manzano-Diaz holds a bachelors degree in Public Relations and Communications from Boston University and a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law.