Chancellor’s Senior Fellow for Economic Development, Purdue University Northwest
Alejandra Y. Castillo is a public policy practitioner and executive who has directed large-scale federal investment programs and led national organizations at the intersection of emerging technology, economic competitiveness, and workforce development. She currently serves as the Chancellor’s Senior Fellow for Economic Development at Purdue University Northwest, focusing on the launch of the Roberts Impact Lab on quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
Most recently, as the Senate-confirmed U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, Castillo led the Economic Development Administration through one of its most consequential cycles, overseeing more than $8.6 billion in federal investment across infrastructure, innovation, and regional resilience. She designed and launched the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs, Good Jobs Challenge, Build Back Better Regional Challenge, and Recompete Pilot Program—initiatives that restructured how the federal government drives inclusive growth in communities across the country. During her tenure, she secured the EDA’s first Congressional reauthorization in over two decades, demonstrating command of legislative strategy and bipartisan relationship-building that few executives achieve.
Her career bridges all three sectors. As Chief Executive Officer of YWCA USA, she grew the organization’s budget by 60 percent, raised more than $300 million in philanthropic capital, and co-created the first-ever nonprofit Exchange Traded Fund on the New York Stock Exchange, a pioneering structural innovation that aligned capital markets with mission-driven outcomes. Earlier, as National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency under President Obama, she secured more than $9 billion in contracts and financing for minority-owned enterprises and created or retained over 30,000 jobs.
Castillo is a scholar-practitioner whose academic work focuses on technology policy, workforce systems, and regional innovation. She held a Fellowship-in-Residence at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and speaks regularly on national competitiveness, technology governance, and place-based economic strategy. She has served three U.S. presidential administrations (Clinton, Obama, and Biden) and maintains expertise across public policy, institutional leadership, and cross-sector strategy.
She holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, a Master of Public Policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from SUNY Stony Brook. She speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese with fluency in French.