Cheryl Oldham

Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Cheryl A. Oldham is senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and vice president of education and workforce policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She serves on the Foundation’s leadership team, informing its strategic direction and leading its portfolio of work on education and workforce—the underpinnings of American competitiveness and prosperity. Oldham sets the vision and manages a multi-million dollar program of work in early childhood education and childcare; K-12 education; and postsecondary education, skills, and training.

She has 30 years of experience spanning state and federal government as well as the private sector. Her previous experience includes serving for eight years in President George W. Bush’s administration where she held several leadership positions. Oldham served as acting assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, chief of staff to the undersecretary, and executive director of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The Commission was the first of its kind to look at needed reforms in higher education related to accessibility, affordability, and accountability and produced a seminal report titled “A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.”

Oldham is a recognized leader and speaker on these issues and has been published in numerous outlets including Forbes, The Hill, U.S. News & World Report, and HuffPost.

Oldham was appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. She also serves on the Achieve Workforce Fund Advisory Board and Strategic Education Inc.’s Hire Board. Oldham received her Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Texas Christian University. She resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her two sons, Jeffrey and Dylan.

Social

Authored Content

Nov 07, 2019
The 2019 Nation’s Report Card, released last week, showed alarming drops in reading and disappointingly middling results in math. This has huge implications for our nation’s future workforce and heartbreaking consequences for families across the country who are trusting our public education system for the most basic of learning goals. Read more
Jun 19, 2019
Though not widely known outside of the education community, the Department of Education recently released information about a new pilot for institutions willing to reimagine their Federal Work Study (FWS) programs. Given the pilot’s emphasis on increased industry engagement in FWS, it is imperative that the business community be informed about the pilot and reach out to their education partners to leverage this pioneering opportunity to benefit our nation’s students. Chances like this are few and far between…and will become completely obsolete if limited interest prevails innovative thinking. Read more
Mar 14, 2019
In both prosperous and challenging times, there is an ongoing gap that stands in the way of opportunity for many. Maybe we need to stop calling it the skills gap, or we need to collectively redefine what the gap is. No matter what we call it, we can all agree that the time for solving it is now. Read more
Feb 11, 2019
Is the U.S. workforce ready for the 4th industrial revolution? Experts predict this workforce movement will create game-changing technologies in automation, computer science, advanced robotics, drones, and others that will rapidly change how we live and work. This coming revolution will create STEM jobs that don’t yet exist and new challenges for STEM education. Read more
Jan 03, 2019
Now more than ever, the success of American business and the effectiveness of our education systems are inextricably linked. Business leaders must be even more engaged in ensuring that our education and workforce systems are preparing learners beginning at an early age for the increasing demands of the globally competitive 21st century knowledge economy. Read more

Cheryl Oldham

Cheryl Oldham

Social

Authored Content

Workforce Challenges? NAEP Scores Show U.S. Must Start Solving Them with a Focus on Early Reading

Employers, Seize the Opportunity of the Federal Work Study Experiment

The Evolution of the Controversial Skills Gap

We must continue to engage females in the 4th Industrial Revolution

In Texas, in Illinois, and Around the Country, Businesses Are Working With Students to Better Bridge Classrooms With Careers