Jessica Chappell

I've been working with vulnerable populations for 27 years, and my main area of expertise is nonprofit leadership as it relates to working with marginalized, vulnerable, and disenfranchised populations - people with disabilities, people experiencing poverty, domestic violence, and homelessness. As Executive Director of Safe Harbor of Chester County, I oversee the largest homeless shelter and therapeutic day program in Chester County, Pennsylvania. There really isn't a typical day for me - I oversee and facilitate therapeutic day programming, intensive case management services, work with community partnerships, basically stewarding our mission, raising funds, and making meaningful connections with our community. Before this role, I worked for about 20 years in catastrophic injury, mostly with people who had brain injuries and disabilities. My journey has really been about working from providing direct services all the way to serving as executive director in my previous job for about 15 years, and what I really specialize in is growing programs and building programs. I've been in my current role for 3 years, and I've never worked so hard in my life, but we've certainly accomplished a ton.