Growing CSD IT: Charles McFadden
CSD introduces its newest Chief Technology Officer, Charles “Chaz” McFadden, who is based near Philadelphia. Chaz begins work on March 26, 2018, and will oversee all information technology, software development and engineering efforts at CSD, as well as spearhead the formation of CSD Labs, a technology-centered initiative.
Before joining CSD, Chaz worked for nearly thirty years in the aerospace and defense industry, mostly with Lockheed Martin, on the engineering development and verification of software solutions for sonar systems, satellite communication systems, and several classified programs. Chaz has led and managed several different software and systems engineering teams responsible for the development of solutions for classified domestic and international programs, internal and external web enabled business communications solutions, and internal IT service management applications based on BMC Remedy and ServiceNow.
CSD CEO Christopher Soukup said, “Chaz’s decades of experience working with teams on critical and complex software and engineering systems should translate extremely well over here at CSD, especially as we continue to build out our CSD Labs initiative.”
Chaz is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, with a B.S. in Computer Science, and went on to earn an MBA from Villanova University. He holds a Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) credential from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), which acknowledges his expertise in data privacy.
“The first order of business is listening to all IT personnel as they help me gain a thorough understanding of the breadth of their talent and capacity. This will allow me to best leverage them to develop and deploy solutions to support the CSD mission of elevating the Deaf community. This new technology is intended to make more apparent the incredible value Deaf people bring to the workplace and society, and increasing the number of self-empowered, self-actualized Deaf individuals,” Chaz said.
McFadden’s leadership extends beyond the workplace, and shows in his commitment to service to the Deaf community. He now serves as Chair of the Board for the Deaf Hearing Communication Centre (DHCC) in Philadelphia and also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Pittsburgh. He will soon join the Board of Directors for the RIT/NTID Alumni Association in Rochester next month.
Soukup added, “CSD’s dream of building Deaf-centered technological design initiatives and solutions that cement Deaf people’s place in the world will come to life at CSD Labs. Chaz’s leadership and advanced skillset paired with his community involvement make him perfectly positioned to recruit and develop our pool of technology professionals in service of this goal. We’re excited to see him take CSD Labs into and ahead of the future.”