Elaine Chao
Former Secretary of Labor and Inspirational Leader

Elaine L. Chao was the 24th US Secretary of Labor and the first Asian Pacific American woman ever appointed to a President’s cabinet in our nation’s history. She was the longest serving Secretary of Labor since World War II, and the only member of President George W. Bush’s original cabinet to have served all eight years of his Administration.

An immigrant who arrived in America at the age of eight speaking no English, Secretary Chao’s experience transitioning to a new country inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to ensuring that all people have access to opportunity and the chance to build better lives. Under her leadership, the US Department of Labor achieved record results for workers and their families in promoting and protecting the health, safety, wages, retirement security, and competitiveness of the nation's workforce.

As the first US Secretary of Labor in the 21st century, Elaine L. Chao focused on increasing the competitiveness of America’s workforce. She had a profound influence on restructuring Department programs to empower workers and update many of the Department’s regulations to make them more relevant in a 21st century workplace. Under her tenure, the Department updated the white collar overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which had been on the agenda of every Administration since 1977. The most significant regulatory tort reform of President Bush's first term, the new regulations provided millions of low-wage, vulnerable workers with strengthened overtime protection. In 2002, the Department led the effort to resolve the West Coast Ports labor dispute which was costing the nation up to $1 billion a day. This was the first successful use of the Taft-Hartley Act since 1971.

In 2003, the Department achieved the first major update of union financial disclosure regulations in more than 40 years, giving rank and file members enhanced information on how their hard-earned dues are spent. The Department set new worker protection enforcement records, including recovering record back wages for vulnerable low wage immigrant workers. The Department also launched comprehensive reform of the nation's publicly funded worker training programs, to better serve dislocated and unemployed workers. On behalf of the 44 million Americans whose retirement security depends on defined benefit plans, the Department spearheaded the Pension Protection Act which was signed into law in 2006. In November 2008, the Department updated the Family and Medical Leave Act to give America’s military families, for the first time ever, job-protected leave rights to care for wounded service men and women.

Secretary Chao made it a top priority to increase and protect our soldiers’ civilian re-employment rights, including fully implementing the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Enacted after Desert Storm in 1994, USERRA’s intent was not fully realized until Secretary Chao directed the Department of Labor to issue regulations, in plain English, to clarify veterans’ rights and employers’ responsibilities. Extensive outreach efforts were launched to ensure that employers know what is expected of them and soldiers are aware of their rights.

Secretary Chao's distinguished career has spanned the public, private, and non-profit sectors. As president and chief executive officer of United Way of America, she restored public trust and confidence in one of the nation's largest institutions of private charitable giving. As director of the Peace Corps, she established the first Peace Corps programs in the Baltic nations and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Her government service also includes serving as deputy secretary at the US Department of Transportation, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, deputy maritime administrator in the US Department of Transportation and White House Fellow. She has also worked as vice president of syndications at BankAmerica Capital Markets Group and a banker with Citicorp. Prior to her nomination as Secretary of Labor, she was a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

Secretary Chao earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and her undergraduate degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College. She also studied at MIT, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of 31 honorary doctoral degrees.

The first Kentuckian named to the President's cabinet since 1945, Secretary Chao is married to the United States Senate’s Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.