The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) recently announced JooYeun Chang as the new director of its Child Well-being Program.
JooYeun brings a wealth of experience from her public service on both the state and national levels as well as from several years as an executive in the private philanthropic sector.
She most recently served as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she was the most senior federal official managing national child welfare policy and reporting directly to the Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, JooYeun was instrumental in leading the Biden-Harris administration’s child and family welfare response package. She would oversee the distribution of more than $72.2 billion to states, territories and tribes to help support children and families as the pandemic raged on.
JooYeun was appointed by the Biden-Harris administration after her service in Michigan as senior deputy director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In her nearly two years leading Michigan’s child welfare system, JooYeun became known for spearheading innovation without hesitance. She propelled the development of a new child welfare technology system and implemented numerous anti-racism initiatives aimed at rooting out racial bias in the state’s child welfare policies and practices.
The Obama Administration also saw the value of JooYeun’s work when it tapped her to lead the Children’s Bureau back in 2013. In this role she was responsible for child protection, foster care, guardianship and adoption policy implementation across the nation.
JooYeun’s private sector experience is dominated by her time at Casey Family Programs, a national foster care-focused foundation. She led the organization for about three-and-a-half years as its managing director.
JooYeun is a member of the Maryland State Bar, having earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law. She had previously received her bachelor’s degree at North Carolina State University.
With a career dedicated to children and families, JooYeun is also a former board member of the National Foster Care Coalition and chair for the Policy Committee of the National Foster Care Coalition.
“At a time of seismic change in social policy and human services, JooYeun brings energy, insight and a proven track record to our growing Child Well-being Program,” said Sam Gill, president and CEO of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in a press release about the appointment. “Her deep experience combined with an innovative outlook will build on an already strong program to elevate Doris Duke’s ambition and impact.”
JooYeun Chang officially beings work leading DDCF’s Child Well-being Program on June 27, 2022.
