“I want to reiterate that every little bit counts. So many alumni say that Semester at Sea was their most impactful experience – it’s now about getting into that culture of giving back and staying close to this program that has given us so much: either by giving, or by serving as an advocate, or by reading and sharing stories – whatever you can do, it all makes a difference.”
For Greg and Kristin Chapman, world travel and adventure have been part of their conversations and partnership from their very first date, when they swapped tales of Greg’s time as a student on the SAS Fall 1990 Voyage and Kristin’s time on a college study abroad trip to Barcelona.
After Greg’s initial voyage in 1990, he knew he’d be involved with the program for life: he cites the voyage as one of the happiest periods of his life, and he early on recognized the power of being able to both travel and learn at the same time while on Semester at Sea. “It’s such a unique experience that you really can’t replicate,” Greg said.
As Kristin and Greg grew their respective careers – Kristin as a pediatric doctor and Greg as a CEO/owner of a major insurance company and an auto parts business – and, as they grew their family of three children, Reese, Luke, and Nico – they knew they were likely to take the opportunity to travel together with Semester at Sea when the time was right. That time came in the summer of 2014, when Greg and Kristin embarked on a partial summer voyage together for the first time.
It was on this voyage that Greg attempted to convince Kristin that they should eventually take their whole family on a full voyage. Fortunately, the experience quickly sold itself: “It took me a day on the ship to realize he was right – that it would be a great experience for the whole family,” Kristin said. Just three years later, on the second half of a full year of traveling abroad together as a family, the Chapmans embarked on the full Spring 2017 voyage with their three children (ranging from a third grader to an eighth grader at the time) in tow.
Beyond the ability to travel together, experience new cultures, and learn of new ways to make an impact abroad, the Chapmans were ecstatic about how the program helped give their young children a sample of college life. “Each of our kids audited one class while we sailed, and it gave each of them a taste of being a college student. It also empowered them early on to see how they might be able to make a difference around the world,” Kristin said.
And the Chapmans are no strangers to making a difference: early in life, Kristin and Greg taught their children that it is “a gift to be able to give.” This ethos of philanthropy started early in life for Kristin: “I’ve learned – and we taught our kids – how good it feels to fill someone else’s bucket – even more so than filling your own,” she said. This ethos rang true for Greg as well. His family had always instilled values of giving back, and, when given the opportunity, Greg delivered on this principle: when he sold his first company, he put half the proceeds into the Chapman Family Foundation. When he sold his second company, he put all of the proceeds into the foundation.
Together, with Kristin, he now runs the Chapman Family Foundation and directs philanthropic contributions to organizations that focus on youth and infants (ages 0 – 25) and tackle issues such as consciousness, education, mental health, and physical health. In combination with Kristin’s career focus on pediatrics and love for adventure, and Greg’s long-standing passion for travel and making long-term local impacts, this giving focus was solidified. Then, after traveling the world with Semester at Sea with their whole family in 2017, it became even more apparent that the SAS program would be a natural fit for several of the Chapman Family Foundation goals. “We had been contributing to Semester at Sea before that family voyage, but hadn’t really been focused on one particular area,” Greg said. “And then, that trip really made us realize: ‘Gosh, we’re really missing an opportunity to have long-term experiences with local NGOs (non-governmental organizations).’ And so, we built a program where we would support Semester at Sea students working closely with these NGOs over a sustained period of time.”
In early 2019, with the financial support of the Chapman Family Foundation, and with the enthusiasm, creativity, and desire to make an impact on the world from Kristin and Greg, the SAS Chapman Impact Program (CIP) was born. Since Spring 2019, the program has evolved and iterated with the needs of the voyages, but the basic premise of this program has remained steadfast: students particularly passionate about making a global impact apply to and enroll in a 3-credit course built to explore global issues, and this cohort then works with 1 – 2 carefully selected nonprofits and/or NGOs over the course of the voyage while in port. Instead of a short visit, the cohorts visit with the organizations for several days at a time, and they conduct hands-on work together in collaboration with the respective organizations. In addition, the collaborating organization is eligible to apply for a grant to support their local and global efforts in ongoing ways. In several iterations of the Chapman Impact Program, students from the cohort have also had the chance to apply to be an individual fellow, resulting in an impact program-supported 8-week summer internship after the voyage meant to continue to work closely with the organization and make an even larger impact – both on the organization and on the awarded student-scholar.
This video features staff and artisans from Fall 2019 voyage organizational partners Global Mamas (Ghana) and Global Diversity Foundation (Morocco).
Since the inception of the Chapman Impact Program, Semester at Sea has partnered student cohorts with more than 10 global organizations, including the Grootbos Foundation in South Africa, Kranti in India, Global Diversity Foundation in Morocco, Global Mamas in Ghana, Friends International in Vietnam (Cambodia), Sanad Agricultural Cooperative in Morocco, Terra Cypria in Cyprus, Earthchild in South Africa, Incentive Foundation Urban Village Program in India, and Association Nadha in Morocco. From therapy and shelter costs for girls born and raised in Kamathipura, India’s infamous red-light area (Kranti) to the first Fair Trade Zone in Africa, which is creating a space for 60 additional skilled craftspeople to gain access to lifelong employment (Global Mamas), to funding for urban agricultural trainings and allotment inputs for 60 women on a community farm (Grootbos), these funds have transformed the lives of countless individuals impacted by these organizations and their ongoing collaborations with Semester at Sea. The Semester at Sea cohort students have had life-changing, hands-on experiences as a result of these collaborations (see the student-scholar piece later in this newsletter for a sample)!
As one example of the impacts of this program, the Global Mamas organization in Ghana, since its initial partnership with the Chapman Impact Program, has hosted 46 Semester at Sea voyagers in multi-day field impact programs, and, as a result of the grant support provided, has seen a 50 percent increase in its building capacity and a 36 percent increase in its headcount. The organization now employs more than 300 women and sells its goods in 24 countries around the world! Over time, the Global Mamas organization has also been able to provide wages that are 75 percent higher than the Ghanaian minimum wage. The craftswomen of Global Mamas have been able to expand their operations, build capacity for more production of Fair Trade products, and pay better wages, resulting in tangible impacts in the lives of these women and their families for years to come. “To be able to tell these stories and to have this impact globally reiterates the positive impact Semester at Sea can have,” Greg said. “It’s really about entrenching Semester at Sea with these NGOs that we’re working with during the semester, and then allowing students the opportunity to connect further with them later if they find that spark.”
In addition to the ongoing Chapman Impact Program work with Semester at Sea, Greg currently serves as an Honorary Trustee on the ISE Board of Trustees and helps lead initiatives specifically in the areas of Finance and the Future Ship Task Force. Kristin continues her medical practice in Pasadena (CA), and their three children have all been welcomed back into the Semester at Sea community once more, with Reese having sailed as a college student in Spring ‘23, plans for Luke to sail in Fall ‘25, and additional objectives for Nico to sail once he enters college in a few years.
As you may have guessed by now, the Chapman family indeed plans to sail again as a family in the future – just as soon as everyone’s schedules align to do so. In the meantime, through their dedication to the program and through their ongoing philanthropy and wide-ranging global impacts provided by the Chapman Impact Program, the Chapman family serves as a model for the spirit of giving back to the program that has influenced them in so many ways. “Though we are giving in a larger way now, I started out very small with my own giving,” Greg said. “I want to reiterate that every little bit counts. So many alumni say that Semester at Sea was their most impactful experience – it’s now about getting into that culture of giving back and staying close to this program that has given us so much: either by giving, or by serving as an advocate, or by reading and sharing stories – whatever you can do, it all makes a difference.”
