The Waterloo Commission on Human Rights is an administrative agency within the City of Waterloo. It was created in compliance with the Code of Iowa Chapter 216.19 that mandates cities with populations of 29,000 or greater to maintain a local civil rights agency or commission. It derives its authority from this Code and the City of Waterloo Ordinance 4064.

In January 1965, Mayor Jochumsen formed a committee to begin working on buffering race relations in Waterloo. Over the next 18 months, thirteen concerned citizens and two mayors drafted the blueprint that established the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights. Under Mayor Lloyd Turner, Resolution No. 16909 was approved on July 7, 1966, establishing the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights. On July 28, 1966, the Commission hired its first staff. Since then, the Commission has worked with seven executive directors M. Peter Middleton 1965-1966 [Acting Director] 1968 to 1970, Roland James 1966-1968, Willie Mosley 1970-1974, Betty Jean Ferguson 1974-1992, James L. Boyd 1993, Walter Reed, Jr. 1994-2005, and David Meeks, 2005 – present. Under the leadership of Commission Chair George Meeks and Mayor John R. Rooff, Ordinance No. 4064 amending Chapter 20 Human Rights Commission ordinance was approved on January 4, 1995.

In November 2007, under Commission Chair Jerome Amos and Mayor Tim Hurley Ordinance No. 4064 was amended to include protection for sexual orientation and gender identity.