JIDE GAMU

Mr. Jide Gamu, is currently a senior leader in the U.S. Army, human resources and personnel management field. He is also an Information Technology Founder for iFOUR, influencing a C-Suite and talented team of 14. Through Jide’s innovative insights, the team is working to launch a disruptive dating and relational analytics application in the fall of 2023.

In 2004, Mr. Gamu served as a Human Relations Commissioner in Aurora, Colorado. He simultaneously worked as the Youth and College Director for the Colorado Alliance for Reform in Education (C.A.R.E) where he led the development of the Alliance for Equal Opportunity in Education to promote school choice to give parents more options for their children’s education.

He later established a community 501c3 program called Barbershop Talk, an introspective gathering of men from 8-80 who met in barber shops simultaneously in Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia to discuss community issues. From 2005 - 2015 Barbershop Talk grew to include a television and radio broadcast hosted by Jide, expanding to Washington, D.C., and later produced two spinoffs for women called "A Woman's Worth" and "BeautyShop Talk."

In 2008, Mr. Gamu enlisted in the United States Army as a Human Resources Specialist. Upon completion of his initial entry training, he was assigned to 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division 1-67 Combined Arms Battalion, and deployed to Kirkuk and Mosul Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon redeployment, Mr. Gamu was assigned to 10th Group Special Forces taking on the responsibility for the management and execution of personnel services, programs and policies.

In 2011, Mr. Gamu was selected and assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington, DC. During his tenure at DIA, he was elected by his peers to serve as the President of DIA's Junior Enlisted Advisory Council. While in position, he led multiple joint military professional development events and community volunteer efforts that provided underprivileged youth in SE DC, influential exposure into the military lifestyle. Under his leadership the council grew from 5 to 125 members in one year. He revitalized their marketing strategy and changed the structure to accommodate the growth. The organization fundraised over 30k, while in previous years the budget never grew above 10k.

In 2014, Mr. Gamu returned to the Special Operations community serving as a G1 and Squadron Senior NCO. Within a year as the most junior NCO in the organization, he designed a strategy still in place today, for recruiting, developing, managing, and retaining talent. He successfully completed a variety of courses like Manpower & Force Management, Lean Six Sigma, a Negation and Leadership course at Harvard, and a Senior Executive leadership course focusing on using cognitive traits for developing teams.

In 2019, Mr. Gamu was selected to serve as the J1 NCOIC and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Vice Commander of Special Operations Command (SOCOM). His foresight and leadership led to the establishment of the first ever Joint E9 billet to serve the SOCOM Vice Commander, the construct of service integrated staff procedures, and gained accountability of over 2 million dollars’ worth of unaccounted for equipment. Under the vision of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the CJCS (SEAC), he also assisted in establishing an Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education course called Gateway. Gateway’s focus is on educating students on the fundamentals of U.S. national security policy, military strategy, and the relationship between them. In addition to, Mr. Gamu also served as the first enlisted President of the Adjutant General Corp Regimental Association Potomac Chapter from 2020 to 2022. The Potomac chapter is the largest chapter in the nation. His strategic implementations improved the organizational design, enhancing the current and future impact on the national capital region. His vision and courage continues to inspire Soldiers to do and think beyond the impossible.

Mr. Gamu is a native of Aurora, Colorado and currently resides in Stafford, Virginia with his daughter Leilani.