MITRE named April Castañeda Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). A career veteran of leading people and culture at national labs and universities, Castañeda brings more than two decades of experience and leadership in human resource strategy design, communication, and execution.
“April has consistently created high-performance teams, and she will undoubtedly bring that leadership and expertise to MITRE in service to our sponsor’s mission and our commitment of Mission First, People Always,” said Mark Peters, president and CEO, MITRE. “April’s passion for uplifting organizational cultures with transparency, trust, and respect, aligns with MITRE’s own mission, vision, and values.”
Castañeda will lead all functional areas of MITRE’s People, Learning, and Growth sector, including its leadership and education centers, talent acquisition, talent engagement, HR business partners, and benefits programs. As a member of the executive leadership team, she also will direct long-range development of strategic plans and transformation initiatives for MITRE.
Prior to MITRE, Castañeda was the CHRO at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a Department of Energy (DOE) national lab. She was responsible for the long-term strategic planning, transformational, and operational HR initiatives that enabled PNNL to attract, recruit, develop, and retain the talent necessary to achieve its vision, mission, and goals. She also has built and led human resources programs at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Participating on several boards, she currently serves on the Board of Oversight’s Operations Committee for SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a national lab operated by Stanford University for the DOE, and on the Professional Standards & Review Committee for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Castañeda holds a bachelor’s degree in women’s and cross-cultural studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master’s degree in industrial/organizational social work from the University of Southern California.
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