Carlos Vélez was named Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Bureau to the New York City Commission on Human Rights in June 2007. His responsibilities include overseeing and implementing the Commission’s prosecutorial and investigative mandates under the NYC Human Rights Law.

Most recently, Mr. Vélez practiced law in Geneva, Switzerland, representing international civil servants at disciplinary hearings and the administrative tribunals of the International Labor Organization and the United Nations.

Prior to his work abroad, Mr. Vélez served as the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Kings County District Attorney’s Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau and Supervising Attorney of the Money Laundering Unit. As a prosecutor, Mr. Vélez conducted thousands of investigations into the sale, distribution, and use of illegal drugs and successfully oversaw many long-term investigations and prosecutions of organized narcotics trafficking.

Mr. Vélez also served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, White Plains, NY; an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Chicago, IL; and a Special Narcotics Assistant at the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in New York City. During his tenure at the Westchester District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Vélez helped develop a program for adolescents, teaching them of the dangers of illegal drug use and the criminal justice system.

Mr. Vélez received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and a B.A. from Ithaca College.

Mr. Vélez and his family reside in Brooklyn.