Chevy Cleaves

Chevy Cleaves is the inaugural Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory. Chevy is an experienced and transformational executive leader skilled in building and influencing coalitions to help further connect the application of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) to an organization’s core strategy and goals.

As the inaugural CDIO for the United States Air Force, Chevy was also a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service. In this role, he was responsible for leading D&I transformation for the Air Force’s 500,000 uniformed and 140,000 civilian workforces.

Chevy was previously the first Global CDIO for Boston Scientific where his team’s efforts immediately improved benchmarking results while
identifying markets where lines of business could be further penetrated to increase topline earnings.

Prior to this, Chevy was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to lead the Air Force Academy Admissions Directorate, where he was also selected as the first CDO. He presented their tremendous results to the Congressional Tri-Caucus and the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, leading to widespread acclaim from senior Air Force and Congressional leaders.

Chevy retired from active duty after a career as an instructor pilot, commander, and strategist. He commanded a deployed total force KC-135 squadron, was the lead T-38 Evaluator Pilot for the B-2 Bomber Initial Cadre selection process and also played a critical role in the response to 9-11 as the lead Checkmate (USAF Strategy Division) team chief. Chevy has an MS in strategy and planning from the National Defense University (Joint Advanced Warfighting School), an MA in human resource development from Webster University, and a BS in basic sciences from the Air Force Academy,
and is a Cornell University Certified Diversity Professional / Advanced Practitioner. He is the recipient of multiple awards and decorations, including the 2023 CIO Views Most Prominent Leader in Diversity and Inclusion, the 2021 Mass Technology Leadership Council Mosaic Award and the Defense Superior Service Medal. His team was also recently recognized with the 2021 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award from the North American HR Executive Summit.