Chiei also served as Artistic Director for the Alaska Design Forum, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization serving the communities of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska (1997-2006). Chiei was born in New York and raised in New Jersey. Prior to moving to Alaska in 1995, he earned a B.A. in Architecture from Pennsylvania State University and served for two years as a member of the Jersey Devil Design Build Group. Chiei is the lead researcher for the Quonset project and has contributed more than eight years to the project. He is a frequent lecturer on the history of Quonset huts.