Jeffery Daar and Manjusha Kulkarni Elected as Ethics Commission Leaders

At its meeting today, the Ethics Commission unanimously elected Jeffery Daar as president and Manjusha Kulkarni as vice president. Daar and Kulkarni will serve in these leadership roles through the end of Fiscal Year 2022-2023.

Daar has practiced law since 1982 and is a principal in the law firm Daar & Newman. His expertise includes strategic planning, cross-border litigation and transactions, complex litigation in state and federal courts, and dispute resolution. Daar is a recognized speaker on subjects relating to international law and business. Daar has previously served on the City's Board of Airport Commissioners, the Rent Adjustment Commission (including 10 years as its Chairperson) and the Municipal Election Reform Commission. Daar is the current Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the California Lawyers Association, a past Chair of The State Bar of California International Law Section and he serves in leadership positions on a number of other boards and committees. Daar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis. Daar was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti to a five-year term ending June 30, 2025.

Kulkarni is Executive Director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), a coalition of over forty community-based organizations that serves and represents the 1.5 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County. Kulkarni also serves as a Lecturer in the Asian American Studies Department of UCLA and, in March 2020, co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, the nation's leading aggregator of COVID-19-related hate incidents against AAPIs. In 2014, Kulkarni received the White House Champions of Change award from President Obama for her dedication to improving health care access for Asians American communities. Kulkarni's work has been featured in numerous publications, and she testified in 2021 before the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Kulkarni holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law. Kulkarni was appointed by City Attorney Michael Feuer to a five-year term ending June 30, 2026.

The Ethics Commission is comprised of five individuals who serve staggered five-year terms. The Mayor, the City Attorney, the Controller, the City Council President, and the City Council President Pro Tem each have one appointment to the commission. The commissioners elect their own president and vice president each year. In addition to Daar and Kulkarni, the commission includes Shedrick Davis, Laura Genao, and Courtney La Bau.