Dr. Chap (She/Her)
CEO of Chap Equity Inc
About Speaker
Sandra (Chap) Chapman, Ed. D. is the CEO of Chap Equity Inc., an organization rooted in the belief that, through teamwork, we can learn more about ourselves and others; discuss and discover the foundational research needed to address the needs in a community; create conversations that support individuals where they are and confront barrier issues; and create actionable steps towards building stronger educational communities. Chap facilitates workshops on racial identity development, racial microaggressions, implicit bias, intergroup anxiety, stereotype threat, and hiring in education and with teams in various types of organizations. Embedded within each concept are tools for helping individuals override unconscious phenomena linked to identity and better connect behavior with values. Dr. Chap is the lead on Social Identity Development for the Great First Eight curriculum development project, led by Dr. Nell K. Duke Executive Director, Center for Early Literacy Success at Stand for Children. Great First Eight is a full-day, open educational resource (OER) curriculum for children birth through eight. This project-based curriculum is designed to integrate all disciplines, prioritizing science and social studies to an unprecedented degree for the infant through primary grades, and to support educators in enacting culturally relevant pedagogy for children from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and other marginalized backgrounds. In addition to creating units for the Infant and Toddler team, Dr. Chap created the professional learning modules on identity and positionality for all educators using the program. Dr. Chap currently serves on the Pre-School team and has maintained her role as Lead on Social Identity Development. To learn more about the Great First Eight Curriculum, visit GreatFirstEight.org. In addition, Dr. Chap serves as a partner for Perception Strategies, where she identifies opportunities to translate the mind sciences and other essential concepts into interactive workshops that build the capacity for clients to shift their mindsets and transform their organizations. Dr. Chap has worked with organizations and teams in health, education, media, and philanthropy. Dr. Chap served on the faculty of the National Association of Independent Schools Diversity Leadership Institute for nine years. During this week-long residential institute she facilitated conversations on racial identity development and racial microaggressions. Chap was the Director of Equity and Community at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI) for 13 years. In her role at LREI she worked on issues related to equity, diversity, social justice, inclusion and anti-bias curriculum. In addition to her years at LREI, Chap has worked at Manhattan Country School and the Bank Street School for Children, all independent schools in New York City. With 30 years in NYC independent schools, and a lifetime of personal experiences in school and other not-for-profit organizations across the country, Chap has a broad range of knowledge regarding children and their social, cognitive, physical, spiritual and emotional selves, as well as the role loving adults play in children’s lives. Dr. Chap is the co-author of Bias Starts Early. Let's Start Now: Developing an Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias Book Collection for Infants and Toddlers (https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2169, co-author of Black Girl on the Playground (Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black Girls, Corwin Press, 2021) and primary author of The Power of Conversation, an article in NAIS Magazine (Summer, 2014). She was interviewed by UNICEF for their July 2020 issue, Why Kids of All Races Need to Know How to Talk About Race and Racism. Listen to Dr. Chap on What School Could Be, a podcast with hosts Kapono Ciotti and Susannah Johnson for a conversation focused on helping educators of infants through adolescents apply an identity-conscious and developmentally appropriate approach to teaching and caring for children, or watch the Game Changer Series on YouTube. Chap co-created the slogan, You Get What You Get and You Don’t Get Upset, Unless It’s Unjust, Then Let’s Make a Fuss!, a child-centered slogan for inspiring young activists, and the creator of a Latine Heritage Project to inspire affirming identity formation for Latines. Dr. Chap (she, her, hers) is an afrolatina and native New Yorker, born and raised in El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem, in New York City. Her mother migrated from Puerto Rico and her father immigrated from the Dominican Republic. All of Dr. Chap's formal educational experiences occurred in New York City, from her early childhood days in Head Start and elementary school in Spanish Harlem; college at Fordham University in Lincoln Center; and Bank Street College of Education for her Masters in Education. In December, 2015 Chap completed her Educational Doctorate in Executive Leadership from St. John Fisher College and her dissertation was titled, The Role of Racial-Ethnic Identity and Family Socialization on Student Engagement: Latino Youth in Select New York City Independent Schools.