Beatrice Bernfeld began her tenure with the Department of Defense (DoD) in December 2012, after serving for five years as the Director of Army Headquarters EEO. In that role she revamped the Affirmative Employment Program to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities and focused on substantive barrier analysis. Under her direction, the EEO office sustained an 80 percent resolution rate for complaints, one of the best in the Army. 

Prior to this position, Ms. Bernfeld served as the Chief of Diversity Management for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During her tenure, ICE established internship agreements with four Historically Black Colleges and Universities and increased employment of students with disabilities through the Workforce Recruitment Program. Ms. Bernfeld represented ICE on both Departmental and Interagency working groups, was one of the founding members of the Minority Serving Institutions Community of Partners, and served on the Board of Women in Federal Law Enforcement.

The day after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, Ms. Bernfeld began her federal career at the National Archives. It was there that she became interested in the EEO profession while chairing the Federal Women’s Program Committee. She completed a graduate degree in Public Administration and Women’s Studies at George Washington University and became the EEO Officer for the National Archives.

After a break in federal service, Ms. Bernfeld returned to work on the EEO staff for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where she restructured the informal complaint process, and designed the Alternative Dispute Resolution program. She left IRS to work with the newly created Department of Homeland Security.