Usha Chaudhary is the chief operating officer of The Student Conservation Association. In this role, she oversees the organization’s strategy, finance, operations, information technology, enterprise risk management and security, human resources, brand, marketing & communications, and business transformation functions. 

Usha has ​extensive multi-disciplinary experience in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Previously, she was global chief operating office of Internews Network, senior vice president and chief transformation officer of The MITRE Corporation, and president and chief operating officer of Kettler, a leading national real estate developer. She has also held executive positions at The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Washington Post, United Way of America, and Freddie Mac.   

Usha has earned a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Drexel University, World Executive MBA from The George Washington University and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi, India. Usha is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. ​ 

Usha is currently on the boards of India International School, a Northern Virginia Indian American education, cultural, and spiritual center; and a recent non-profit start-up RENEW (Reform Education for a New World).  She has served on the boards of Nathan Associates, an international economic development firm based in Arlington, VA; Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, George Mason University Honors College; United Way of the National Capital Area, and several non-profit boards.  She has also served as Senior Advisor to the Infinity Foundation.

Usha was recognized in the Top 10 Women of Influence in Technology by Analytics Insight in 2020. She was also named a finalist in the March of Dimes Heroines of Washington in 2018; Washingtonian’s Most Powerful Women in Washington in 2017; Bisnow’s Women of Influence in Commercial Real Estate in 2017; and Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business in 2016. In 2007, Usha was named Washington's Non-Profit CFO of the Year for Innovation.