Arupa Barua
Director
Ms. Arupa Barua currently serves as the Ethics Liaison Officer for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). In this position, she is responsible for administering NJDOT’s ethics program and ensuring that employees are in compliance with State ethics codes, laws, regulations, and executive orders. Prior to her current position, Ms. Barua was the Motor Vehicle Commission’s (MVC) Equal Employment Opportunity Officer and Title VI Coordinator. In this role, she was responsible for MVC’s compliance with all applicable State and Federal anti-discrimination laws, which include, but are not limited to, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In furthering this goal, Ms. Barua successfully implemented a number of procedures and policies that assisted in eliminating barriers for employees and members of public.
Ms. Barua also worked as a Deputy Attorney General (DAG) for the State of New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General for several years. As a DAG, she was assigned to the Employment Counseling and Labor section, where she represented and advised State agencies on an array of employment and labor matters, including but not limited to, employment discrimination claims, unfair labor practices, prevailing wage compliance, employee discipline appeals, and unemployment insurance appeals.
Besides her involvement with APALA-NJ, Ms. Barua is also a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. Ms. Barua received her B.A. from Michigan State University’s James Madison College of Public Affairs, majoring in International Relations with a minor in International Development, Muslim Studies, and Asian Studies. Thereafter, she received her Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law in Camden. Ms. Barua is admitted to practice law in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She was born in Bangladesh and immigrated to the United States when she was six years old. Ms. Barua currently resides in Voorhees, New Jersey, with her husband and two young children.
