Chike Aguh

Former Chief Innovation Officer, U.S. Dept. of Labor

Chike Aguh (pronounced Chee-kay Ah-Goo) serves as the inaugural Head of Innovation & Strategy at the Kapor Center, a visionary ecosystem of organizations—founded by Dr. Freada Kapor Klein and Lotus founder Mitch Kapor—investing in America’s industries of the future by ensuring that every American can take part in building them.

Previously, President Biden appointed Chike on day one of his administration as the second Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor. He now also serves as Senior Advisor at Harvard’s Project on Workforce and at the Ares Charitable Foundation. Chike is the first person in his family’s history born in America. Within a single generation, his family rose from a village in Nigeria without electricity to him serving an American president. Across all his past and present roles, Chike is committed to building the people—entrepreneurs, innovators, and workers—who will power the industries of the future and ensure that America’s economy creates opportunity for every family, just as it did for his.

At the Kapor Center (including leading impact investing firm Kapor Capital and Kapor Foundation) and reporting to Co-Chair Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, Chike leads efforts to scale startups using emerging technologies to solve society’s most urgent challenges, including education, economic opportunity and the future of work.

A nationally recognized authority on the future of work, innovation, and economic opportunity, Chike led initiatives at the U.S. Department of Labor as its Chief Innovation Officer to harness data, emerging technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity, and more), and innovative practice to advance American workers. His efforts included creating the department’s first enterprise data strategy, playing a pivotal role in the $2 billion modernization of the unemployment-insurance system, and serving as the DOL’s designee to the National Space Council.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a teacher and policy official in New York City’s public schools, led a national nonprofit connecting more than 500,000 low-income Americans to broadband and digital skills, and held corporate-strategy and future-of-work leadership roles at EAB, the McChrystal Group (founded by Gen. (Ret.) Stan McChrystal), and Accenture.

A Fulbright Scholar, Presidential Appointee, and award-winning leader across sectors, Chike holds degrees from Tufts University (BA), Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M), Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), and the Wharton School (MBA). He is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Presidential Leadership Scholar, and a 40 Under 40 honoree from both Wharton and the Washington Business Journal.

Chike serves on the boards of American Student Assistance, one of the America’s largest education and workforce philanthropies; and University College at Tufts University, which leads the university’s lifelong- learning portfolio. His work has been featured by the White House, Harvard, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, and Wired Magazine.

In Maryland, Chike serves as Vice Chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, appointed by Governor Wes Moore. Chike, his wife, and their two children are proud Marylanders and Prince Georgians, spend significant time in Greater Baltimore, and are longtime members of Zion Church in Greenbelt, Maryland.