Chelle Travis is the executive director of SkillsUSA, a national organization of more than 440,000 teachers and students operating within the framework of career and technical education (CTE). Travis was appointed in 2019 and leads a staff of 40 that manages a federation of more than 50 state and territorial SkillsUSA associations, one of which (Tennessee) Travis formerly led as its director. The work she’s accomplished in two decades of advancing the cause of career and technical education makes Travis a perfect fit to help SkillsUSA, the number one workforce development organization for students, continue to achieve its mission: to empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members.

Travis’s professional experience is rooted in a wide variety of academic settings, from secondary institutions to universities to technical and community colleges. Prior to becoming executive director of SkillsUSA, she served as the senior director of workforce and economic development at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), where she built valuable partnerships with employers, workforce agencies and postsecondary institutions. Prior to her work at THEC, Travis served as associate vice chancellor for students for the Tennessee Board of Regents college system. There, she provided leadership in promoting student initiatives across 40 technical and community colleges.

Travis has collaborated with every category of CTE stakeholder to design curricula, develop programs, draft legislation and more. The ultimate goal of these and current efforts is the same: to help students realize their full personal and professional potential while elevating the value of CTE to the forefront of educational discourse.

Travis holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance, and a master’s degree in business administration, from Middle Tennessee State University. She is a doctoral student at Tennessee State University.