Lindsey Burke, Ph.D. – Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Programs

Lindsey Burke spent the last 17 years at the Heritage Foundation, where she was most recently Director of the Center for Education Policy and the Mark A. Kolokotrones Fellow in Education. In that capacity, she oversaw Heritage’s preschool, K-12, and higher education policy and research. Lindsey’s scholarly research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Social Science Quarterly and Educational Research and Evaluation, and she has published hundreds of policy reports on a range of education issues and testified before Congress on numerous occasions. In 2021, Lindsey was tapped to join Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s transition steering committee and was appointed to serve on the Youngkin landing team for education. She was also appointed by Governor Youngkin to serve on the Board of Visitors for George Mason University.

Lindsey has served as a fellow at EdChoice, the namesake foundation of Milton and Rose Friedman, on the national advisory board of Learn4Life, a network of public charter schools serving opportunity youth, on the board of the Educational Freedom Institute, on the advisory board of the Independent Women’s Forum’s Education Freedom Center, and on the advisory board of the University of Austin’s Center for Education and Public Service. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA, a master of teaching degree in Foreign Language Education from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D in Education Policy from George Mason University.

Jeffrey Andrade – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation, Office of Postsecondary Education

Jeff Andrade comes to the Trump Administration with nearly 40 years of experience in federal education and workforce development policy in both the public and private sectors. Jeff began his professional career at the Department of Education as a career civil servant and quickly worked his way up from entry-level policy analyst to senior budget analyst responsible for student financial assistance. Later, on Capitol Hill, Jeff was a senior Republican staffer on the House Education and Workforce Committee, helping to successfully draft and negotiate reauthorizations of the Higher Education Act, Workforce Investment Act, and other important legislation for people with disabilities. He also drafted the landmark legislation that created the Federal government’s first performance-based organization, the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office.

A first-generation American originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, Jeff was the first in his family to graduate from college. He financed his education through earnings from factory and other jobs and with help from Pell Grants, other federal student aid, and institutional scholarships. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Political Science from The American University in Washington, D.C., and resides with family outside of Baltimore, Maryland.

Christopher J. McCaghren – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs, Office of Postsecondary Education

Dr. Chris McCaghren most recently served as the CEO of Higher Education Solutions, a full-service higher education consulting firm with a national presence, serving colleges and universities of all types. During the first Trump Administration, Dr. McCaghren served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs where he oversaw the distribution of more than $36 billion in pandemic relief funding to more than 5,100 institutions of higher education and their students.

Before being called to Washington, DC, he served as the Executive Vice President and Provost, as well as Professor of Higher Education Leadership and Policy, at the University of Mobile. Dr. McCaghren also served as Dean of the College of Education at Anderson University and as Assistant to the President for External Programs and Division Head for the Division of Career and Continuing Studies at Samford University. In addition, he served Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6, retired) and the great people of the state of Alabama as Special Assistant to the Congressman.

Dr. McCaghren holds a doctorate from Vanderbilt University in higher education leadership and policy, a master of theological studies from Beeson Divinity School, and a double major undergraduate degree in communication studies and classics from Samford University.

Nicholas “Nick” Moore – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Nick Moore most recently served as the director of the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation (GOEWT) under the leadership of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. Moore focused on aligning Alabama’s education and workforce programs, implementing Alabama’s state longitudinal database system, establishing Alabama’s non-degree credential quality and transparency system, and curating a competency-based education and skills-based hiring system in Alabama. Under Nick’s leadership, the GOEWT worked to establish a learning and employment record, a skills-based job description generator, and a human-centered public workforce system designed to assist Alabamians with overcoming benefits cliffs and other barriers to entering the workforce. He served as a Teach for America corps member in Lowndes County, Alabama where he had the privilege of teaching secondary social studies, government, and economics at Central High School. After completing his tenure in Lowndes County, Nick received a Teach for America Capitol Hill Fellowship. During and after his fellowship, he covered education, health care, and workforce development in the Office of Representative Martha Roby (AL-02). Nick later served as Senator Luther Strange’s Legislative Assistant for healthcare, education, and labor.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and a Master of Public Policy from Cornell University. Moore is a native of Enterprise, Alabama.