Chang Chiu is a co-founder of Chinese American Progressive Action, an initiative to provide Chinese-Americans a platform to support progressive policies in the U.S. As Deputy Policy Director for Tom Perriello for Virginia in 2017, he developed proposals for a gubernatorial campaign praised for its bold, inclusive, and forward-looking ideas. In the international arena, Chang worked as a Legal Advisor for the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law to strengthen protections for civil society and managed programs providing technical assistance in Asia. Chang led the China, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste grantmaking as a Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for Democracy, and also oversaw several regional projects in Asia. Chang's work on China at the National Endowment for Democracy focused on a wide range of issues, including human rights, labor rights, access to justice, civic participation, freedom of information, anti-discrimination, and Uighur issues.
Chang has worked in several other non-profit and private sector fields. As part of the response to the 2004 South Asian tsunami, Chang coordinated international humanitarian and development assistance as a Program Officer for Indonesia in the Tsunami Recovery Program at the American Red Cross. Chang began his career as a lawyer in the corporate sector in Washington, D.C.
Chang is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and has a Master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he received the A. Doak Barnett award for excellence in China Studies. Chang obtained his Bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where he majored in Politics and minored in East Asian Studies.