Chike Aguh
(Chee-Kay Ah-Goo)

Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor

Chike Aguh (Chee-Kay Ah-Goo) is the first person in his entire family born in America, a Fulbright Scholar, educator, business leader, award winning non-profit CEO, and Biden presidential appointee. A recognized authority on the future of work, economic opportunity, and innovation, Chike is committed to an economy that creates opportunity for all just like America did for him.

Chike currently serves as Senior Advisor at Harvard University’s Project On Workforce, Senior Fellow on Workforce at Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change, and Senior Advisor at the McChrystal Group.

Previously, Chike was appointed by President Biden on day one of his administration to serve as Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor, the first black person to do so. Reporting to Deputy Secretary and later Acting Secretary Julie Su, he led efforts to use data, emerging technologies (AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, etc.), and innovative practice to advance/protect American workers. These efforts included creating the department’s first enterprise data strategy, serving a pivotal role in the $2B modernization of the nation’s unemployment insurance system, piloting the nation’s first workforce scorecard, and serving as the DOL’s designee to the National Space Council.

Chike has also worked as an education policy official and teacher in America’s largest school system; Fulbright Scholar in Asia; director of corporate strategy and performance technologies at technology company EAB; CEO of a national nonprofit which helped connect 500,000 low-income Americans to affordable internet and digital skills, founding leader of the Community College Growth Engine Fund; and Director of Strategy and Future of Work Lead at the McChrystal Group, a business advisory firm founded by Gen. (ret.) Stanley McChrystal.

Chike holds degrees from Tufts University (B.A.), Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M), Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), and University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (MBA). He is a lifetime member at the Council on Foreign Relations, Presidential Leadership Scholar; and 40 under 40 honoree from Wharton and Washington Business Journal.

Chike, his wife and their two kids are proud Marylanders and Prince Georgians. Appointed by MD Gov. Wes Moore, Chike is Vice-Chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He is founder of the Aguh Workforce Scholarship at Prince George’s Community College and advisor to Prince George’s County focused philanthropy Pull-Up Fund. Chike and his family are members of Zion Church in Greenbelt, MD.