Christen Linke Young

Christen Linke Young, J.D., is secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. She is a nationally recognized health policy leader with more than 15 years of experience in federal and state government. Young served as deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and deputy assistant to the President for Health and Veterans from 2021 to 2025. In that role, she led the administration’s health policy team as a senior White House staff member. Before that, she was deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, leading initiatives in Medicaid, behavioral health, public health, and social services programs. She also held senior roles at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Obama White House. In addition, she has served as a fellow at the Brookings Institution, producing nationally recognized research on health coverage, pricing, and outcomes. Young holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.