April Castañeda, a 20-year industry leader with extensive experience in human resource strategy design, communication and execution, has been appointed senior vice president and chief human resources officer at MITRE.
The not-for-profit research and development organization said Monday Castañeda will oversee the company’s People, Learning, and Growth sector and its MITRE Leadership Center and Total Rewards program. The MITRE executive will handle talent acquisition and engagement while working with human resources business partners. She will also be responsible for guiding the company’s strategic development and transformational efforts.
April Castañeda’s Career Highlights
Before joining MITRE, Castañeda spent over five years at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She served as the CHRO, in charge of developing and implementing strategies and initiatives that boosted PNNL’s talent acquisition and retention.
Castañeda had a couple of stints at the California Institute of Technology. She most recently worked as the assistant VP for equity and equity investigations in 2018, where she spearheaded the implementation of policies and practices addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Prior to that, she was with Caltech from 1999 to 2016. She served in various leadership roles, including executive director of HR and senior director of employee and organizational development.
The executive currently serves on the board of overseers for SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. She was also part of the board of directors at High Point Academy.
MITRE CEO and President Mark Peters, a 2025 Wash100 Award winner, said of Castañeda, “April has consistently created high-performance teams and she will undoubtedly bring that leadership and expertise to MITRE in service to our sponsor’s mission and our commitment of Mission First, People Always.”
