Co-Founder Aurelien Chu to lead Eskwelabs as CEO, Angela Chen-Delantar to lead new initiatives

Manila, Philippines (August 30, 2024) — After leading Eskwelabs from its inception in 2019, Co-Founder Angela Chen-Delantar is stepping down from her role as CEO to transition into a new role as Co-Founder and Chairperson. Stepping into the position of CEO is Aurélien Chu, who has been a cornerstone of the Eskwelabs team as Chief Operations Officer (COO), where he oversaw the educational experiences that define the organization.

Angela leaves Eskwelabs in a position of strength, having scaled its impact significantly since its founding. Reflecting on this transition, Angela emphasizes her commitment to making space for fresh leadership that will continue to push the boundaries of digital education. "When we founded Eskwelabs, we had a vision of creating accessible, high-quality digital upskilling opportunities. What began as a small experiment has now empowered thousands across Southeast Asia. I am confident that under Aurélien's leadership, Eskwelabs will continue to innovate and expand its reach, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of digital education and workforce development."

Aurélien Chu joined Eskwelabs with a wealth of experience in decision science, data skills, and business strategy. In his role as COO, he has worked directly with over 100 instructors and course facilitators, ensuring that Eskwelabs delivers cutting-edge and engaging educational experiences. His dedication to advancing understanding in decision science has been instrumental in unearthing novel insights that drive Eskwelabs' educational strategies.

Before joining Eskwelabs, Aurélien was a management consultant focused on education and employment in frontier markets and a research analyst with a US-based technology transfer organization. He also served as a strategy consultant with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, providing strategic analysis and economic research for governments and multilateral institutions across Africa, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Aurélien is a national of France, Belgium, and the USA, and holds degrees in Economics and Business Administration from UC Berkeley. His diverse background, including living on four continents, brings a global perspective to his leadership at Eskwelabs. 

Aurélien was recognized as a Forbes 30-Under-30 lister for social impact, a testament to his commitment to driving meaningful change through education. Speaking about his vision for Eskwelabs, Aurélien shares, "The past few years have been about building a robust foundation – creating the tools and systems that make learning accessible, personalized, and impactful. As we look to the future, my focus will be on integrating updated technologies and ensuring they reach even more learners across the region. We will deepen our partnerships with educational institutions, governments, and private sector leaders to amplify our impact and continue to evolve in response to the needs of our learners and the rapidly changing job market."

Aurelien is also dedicated to maintaining a core focus on staying ahead of the most important skills for the future of work: "We are living through an incredible technological revolution at the moment, and one of the defining features of who will succeed in the society of the future is mastering gamechangers like AI. Tools that change the way we live and work are coming out at a pace that is impossible for traditional education to keep up with, and our role at Eskwelabs is to provide the skills that allow current and future professionals, educators, and even government agencies to benefit from cutting-edge developments," Aurelien notes. "At the same time, one of the things that we’ve learned is that the heart of success in a technologically-enhanced world is human community and connections. Eskwelabs has always been about more than just skills training; it’s about creating a community that embraces diverse perspectives and drives innovation in education. And as such, I’m excited to pursue that at Eskwelabs but also to see how Angela is able to build together a larger coalition of like-minded partners to build a more empathetic, informed, technologically literate, and thriving society.”

Angela expresses her confidence in Aurélien’s ability to lead Eskwelabs into this new era, stating, "Aurélien’s expertise and commitment have been instrumental in our success thus far. I am excited to see how he will continue to drive our mission forward, and I look forward to supporting him and the entire Eskwelabs team in this new capacity."

Aurélien Chu will officially assume the role of Eskwelabs' CEO on September 1, 2024. This leadership transition positions Eskwelabs to continue its momentum in AI and data education while also branching out into new, disruptive opportunities in the education sector. Further details about the leadership transition will be available on Eskwelabs' website and social media platforms. 

Find out about upcoming program launches for Eskwelabs here: AICADEMY for HR and Full-stack Software Development Bootcamp with TechUp.

About Eskwelabs

Eskwelabs (f. 2019) transforms lives and democratizes opportunities through human-centered, future of work education. We are a pioneer in building live cohort-based learning experiences and communities that upskill people with work-like projects. Rooted in coaching and empathy, our mentor-driven way of learning improves capabilities, learning, and culture in the workplace. Our instructional design and impact model are recognized internationally by Education Alliance Finland and the Asian Development Bank. Our co-founders are also recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit: www.eskwelabs.com