Ed Hidalgo
Chief of Innovation & Engagement Officer, Cajon Valley Union School District Ed Hidalgo is the Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer for the Cajon Valley Union School District. His role was created to support the district mission to prepare all students to lead happy lives in healthy relationships, on a path to gainful employment. He is the lead designer supporting the integration of career-related learning in classrooms through a systemic, research-based career development framework known as the World of Work™ Initiative. The design, integration and commercialization began in 2016 and is now deployed primarily by teachers in classrooms across the Southern California district with 900 teachers, 17,000 students, and 27 schools, and in partnering districts. This work is complemented by his strategic partnership with the Gallup organization that is supporting the district’s evolution to a strengths-based, engagement driven enterprise.
Prior to this role, he was the Director of the world of work initiative at the Institute for Entrepreneurship in Education at the University of San Diego, where he worked with researchers to design the theory of change and theory of action for his current work. These initiatives are inspired by the work he led during 18 years in the private sector, most recently at Qualcomm, the leading global wireless communications company, where he worked in human resources, staffing and government affairs.
As Senior Director of Government Affairs, he led the development of the Thinkabit_Lab®, a dedicated makerspace that has provided more than 50,000 middle school students and teachers exposure to advanced technology and the world of work. Prior to this role, he led the global contingent workforce and immigration practice which was responsible for the hiring of more than 20,000 high-skill, high-wage workers. He co-founded Career Explorations, a career counseling and coaching benefit for company employees to drive career engagement and career well-being.
Prior to his time at Qualcomm, he was the Area Manager for the global staffing company, Manpower, where he was responsible for technical recruiting and site-management operations contributing to the employment of thousands of workers each year throughout San Diego County.
He is a member of the San Diego Workforce Partnership- Workforce Development Board. He is a Certified Coach in the following assessments: MBTI, Gallup Strengths, Strong Interest Inventory and CPI 260.