Kevin LaChapelle

The greatest accomplishments of Kevin LaChapelle are written in the lives of those whom he has mentored through the years. YouTube videos abound with stories of his mentees, young men and women who were down on their luck before having the good fortune of meeting Kevin, Executive Director of PowerMentor.org. Kevin brings wisdom gained from a diverse background that has included experience as a police officer, an author, an instructor, a professor, healthcare administrator and, most especially and proudly, PowerMentor.

Since 1990, Kevin has been changing lives of people that he and his associates have mentored through his PowerMentor project. The non-profit he founded develops future leaders through modeling leadership behavior, connecting with them and involving them in purposeful real-life projects. Kevin defines Leadership as the ability to influence others in their development and support them in accomplishing their goals and objectives personally, professionally, and collectively within a team. His mentees have indeed risen to leadership roles, many going from high school dropouts to lawyers or law enforcement officers.

In San Diego, PowerMentor’s response to street gang violence against the Karen people (refugees from the brutality of the Communist Burmese Army, resettled throughout the U.S. and other countries) was to launch a Karen Refugee Leadership Academy. Kevin also recently completed a 5-year-long anti-gang violence project, involving anti-violence strategies as well as gang prevention, community outreach and mentoring.

Through PowerMentor, Kevin has also conducted humanitarian relief projects in Ukraine, Antigua, St. John, El Salvador, Mexico, and elsewhere. His goal is to seek individuals in poverty-stricken areas who want to make a difference in their world. He then walks alongside them, empowering them to make their dreams come true. “The only catch,” says Kevin, “Their dream must include having a positive measurable impact in their community.” In Antigua, Kevin’s Anti-Gang Project utilized gang intervention strategies and strategic mentoring in a collaborative partnership with educators, social services, law enforcement, corrections, and CBO’s.

Kevin is also a Health Care Executive, where he is responsible for the integrity of the brand experience. He develops and executes the core curriculum, which builds leaders and works with physicians, providing the necessary engagement and tools. He also has responsibility for hearing the voice of the customer through a variety of measurement tools, ensuring that the brand promise and the brand experience meet and exceed customer needs and expectations.

At National University since 2011, Kevin has been Core Adjunct Professor in Health and Human Services and Health Care Leadership. And since 2010, he has been Associate Professor in Health Care Administration and Leadership Development at Ashford University. For five years, he served as an Adjunct College Instructor in Criminal Justice at Remington College.

Kevin began his professional career as a police officer, specializing in gang intervention and community policing. Serving from 1989 to 1995, he received the Police Star Award and, for three consecutive years, was Officer of the Year. Subsequently, Kevin served as Board President, Grossmont Union School District, overseeing an annual budget of $210 million and responsible for 22,000 students.

From 2008 to 2013, Kevin was Director, Support Operations at Scripps Health, where he built and developed high-performing teams, resulting in his department receiving the highest Great Place to Work scores across the entire health care system each year. His Leadership Award cites, “Kevin’s strong support for Scripps core values,” and notes that his peers and subordinates describe him as, “A team player and a motivator.” He not only supports his staff and other leaders but, “Reaches out to all who need his support and expertise.” “He has the ability to bring out the best in others.”

Kevin is the author of Please God, Don’t Let My Badge Tarnish (2006), PowerMentor: The Art of Mentoring (2008), and Overcoming Adversity: A Prosecutor and a Defense Attorney’s Inspiring Journey from At-Risk Inner City Youths to the Halls Of Justice and How the Former Cop Who Started It All Was Forever Changed! (2014).

Kevin’s honors include numerous awards for community involvement, officer of the year, and adjunct faculty of the year as well as the 10 News Leadership Award, 4 Performance Excellence Awards (Scripps Health), and a Community Hero Award, to name a few.

He holds a Doctorate of Education in Leadership, a Masters in Public Administration, and Bachelors in Business Management with emphasis in Organizational Development. He also holds certifications from Performance Excellence Lean Six Sigma Training and the Scripps Leadership Academy’s One-Year Health Care Leadership Program.

Exceptionally skilled at mentoring Generation Y leaders and staff, Kevin LaChapelle is also experienced in curriculum development and video production and is tech savvy. Combined with his background in the health care industry, education, law enforcement, and authorship – along with a compassionate heart and a drive to help others – he is truly a PowerMentor in every sense.

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe