As the Director of California Health and Human Services Office of Innovation, Chaeny Emanavin is applying human centered design, iterative/agile methodologies, design thinking and deep dive problem definition techniques to create novel solutions for the State. The approach delivers multi-faceted results. The goal is to drive wide-spread culture change and skills development until these proven techniques are no longer considered novel, but become simply just how work is done.
Prior to joining CHHS, Chaeny was a product director of digital service at the California Department of Technology. He was a product director for the U.S. Digital Service at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2016 to 2017 and a program manager at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2014 to 2016. He has served as web team lead for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2005 to 2014. He was a senior multimedia designer at Aspen Systems Corporation from 2000 to 2005 and a multimedia designer at IGEN International Inc. from 1998 to 2000. Emanavin earned a Master of Arts degree in communication, culture and technology from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University.