Andre Chapman knows firsthand, the challenges of being fostered. As a brother to a foster sister, his compassion for underserved people began at a very young age.
With God as his life-force, and resilience guiding him, Mr. Chapman answered an unexpected call from God in 1992, while working as a National Director of Sales for a Silicon Valley technology company. Andre was disheartened by the lack of other minorities in the technology field. Having personally experienced and witnessed the privilege of those who had access to benefits and opportunities versus those who did not; he found this classic case of the “Haves vs. Have Not’s” unsettling. He responded to this crisis by creating access for those less fortunate. Thus was born Unity Care Group, Inc, designed to develop educational and social programs enriching the lives of disadvantaged underserved youth.
Over the next seven years, as Mr. Chapman continued his high-tech career holding several executive-level positions, Unity Care was flourishing and expanding its core services. “I found myself working at my career job during the day, but in the evening and weekends spending time with the youth in Unity Care”. This path eventually created a moral and spiritual dilemma for Andre as he found himself desiring to do more for those youth. Ultimately, in 1999 he made a life-changing transformation – he hung up his high-tech hat and began his daily journey at Unity Care.
He then began expanding the impact of Unity Care across Northern California. The key focus was to reduce the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Mr. Chapman is a national trainer and expert on creating culturally proficient services and effectively engaging communities of color. Supporting underserved foster youth has been a common theme throughout his two decades of leading Unity Care, but the core of his heart was drawn to reach new levels when the coronavirus pandemic hit our world. This led him to create the Covid-19 Black health initiative www.covid19black. Andre was motivated to capture the stories and journeys of the pandemic’s impact on the African Ancestry community, as well as build solutions to preventative healthcare and well-being.
He then began expanding the impact of Unity Care across Northern California. The key focus was to reduce the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Mr. Chapman is a national trainer and expert on creating culturally proficient services and effectively engaging communities of color. Supporting underserved foster youth has been a common theme throughout his two decades of leading Unity Care, but the core of his heart was drawn to reach new levels when the coronavirus pandemic hit our world. This led him to create the Covid-19 Black health initiative www.covid19black. Andre was motivated to capture the stories and journeys of the pandemic’s impact on the African Ancestry community, as well as build solutions to preventative healthcare and well-being.
Mr. Chapman earned a BS in Science and Business, a Master’s in Organization Management and a Certificate of Completion, Harvard Business School, Strategic Perspectives on Non-Profit Management, and is a Senior Fellow for the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley.