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Chad Kempel, youth keynote speaker raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, 4x Guinness World Records title holder
Youth speaker • California school speaker • Bay Area roots

The top youth speaker in California grew up in the Bay Area and graduated from an East Bay public high school.

Chad Kempel was born in Hayward, raised in San Lorenzo and Castro Valley, and graduated from Arroyo High School. He holds 4 Guinness World Records titles (two of them set on California roads), an MA in Experimental Psychology from San Jose State, and three talks built for high school assemblies. He lives in Idaho now and travels to California schools.

California Introductory Rate: $1,800 per assembly, travel included · See what’s included ↓

Why a Bay Area-raised speaker matters for California schools

A speaker who flies into your school usually knows California from a hotel window. Chad grew up here, in the East Bay, lived in Fremont, San Mateo, and Mountain House as an adult, and only left California when his family moved to Idaho.

That shows up in the room. When he tells a Bay Area student he walked the hallways of a public high school in San Lorenzo with nobody to sit with, he isn’t borrowing a story. When he says he taught college statistics in San Jose and math inside San Quentin, those are places students can find on a map. He lives in Boise now, but he’s back in the Bay Area and up at Lake Tahoe throughout the year visiting family, and for California schools the travel is already in the rate.

Chad Kempel smiling on the Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco Bay behind him at the finish of his 100-mile run in 2013
At the Golden Gate Bridge, the finish of his 100-mile run, September 28, 2013.

Where the Bay Area shows up in his story

Every place below is real, and every one of them is checkable.

Hayward and San Lorenzo
Born in Hayward and raised in San Lorenzo, he went to Del Rey Elementary from fourth through seventh grade, then Arroyo High School from eighth grade through graduation in 1999, where he wrestled all four years.
Castro Valley
He moved here at 16 and spent seven years at the Lucky grocery store in Castro Valley, which became an Albertsons while he was there. He started as a courtesy clerk, later worked as a bookkeeper and a journeyman food clerk, and met his wife there. His first race ever was here too, the Eden Medical Center Run to the Lake 10K in 2002, and he ran it twelve straight years, through the race’s final running in 2013.
Chabot College and Cal State East Bay
Chabot College in Hayward is where he found psychology and earned an Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies. From there he went to Cal State East Bay for a bachelor’s in psychology with a minor in statistics, on the Dean’s List.
San Jose State
He earned his MA in Experimental Psychology here, then taught psychology and statistics for five years, in lecture sections of up to 125 students.
San Quentin, Marin County
For five years he taught math inside the prison, unpaid, to men working toward their associate’s degrees through the Prison University Project.
South Bay and San Francisco Bay
He coached Special Olympics athletes in the South Bay for two years, trained for Ironman Canada with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training while raising more than $10,000, and finished the Alcatraz swim after three failed attempts.
San Mateo County
He lived in San Mateo for seven years and has worked in the same San Mateo County Health department for 20 years, including the analyses behind Board of Supervisors study sessions on youth behavioral health.
San Leandro and Alameda
His parents grew up in these two towns. In his early twenties he put in more than 100 hours in the occupational therapy department at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro, helping patients rebuild daily life skills.
Livermore
His father worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 37 years. Chad wrote about him in My Father, Nuclear Fusion, and Anything Is Possible.
Walnut Creek and Mountain House
The quintuplets were born at Kaiser’s Walnut Creek hospital in January 2018, at 27 weeks. The family lived in Mountain House for seven years before moving to Idaho.
Chad Kempel smiling in his wetsuit and finisher beanie at the Alcatraz Challenge finish in San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge behind him
The Alcatraz Challenge finish, May 22, 2011: his first unassisted swim from Alcatraz, on the fourth try, in 47:56.

Two Guinness World Records, set on California roads

All three tries at the marathon record happened on California roads, with all five kids in the stroller every mile. The first was the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach on February 3, 2019, 46 minutes short. Seven weeks later in Oakland he missed by four and a half minutes. A week after that, on March 31 in Modesto, he set it. Three years later, back in Oakland, he set the half marathon record too. Every attempt, including the two misses, is in his race history.

Chad Kempel in his Oakland Marathon finisher medal with his wife Amy, their two older daughters, and the five quintuplets in Oakland A's jerseys in the stroller
Chad grew up watching the A’s in Oakland, and the whole family wore green and gold to the Oakland Marathon finish on March 24, 2019.

Credentials that hold up when a student Googles him

Because every California student has a phone.

4
Guinness World Records titles
MA
Experimental Psychology, San Jose State
5 yrs
University Lecturer, San Jose State
20 yrs
Same San Mateo County Health department

Chad set all four records pushing his five kids, quintuplets born at 27 weeks, in a stroller: marathon 4:42:49 in Modesto, California; half marathon 2:19:55 in Oakland, California; 10K 1:04:52.9 in Garden City, Idaho; 1K 5:34 in Eagle, Idaho. He is trained in QPR suicide prevention and completed psychological first aid training through San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services. So California students get a guy with receipts who can also explain why their brain does what it does.

Read the stories and the psychology behind them →  ·  See the full resume, what’s on LinkedIn →

Three talks built for California high schools

Also booked for: graduation and commencement · student leadership events · educator conferences

Bay Area and California media
KTVU FOX 2• ABC7 San Francisco• Mercury News• KRON4• CBS News Bay Area• Tracy Press
National media
TODAY Show• ABC World News Tonight• Good Morning America• Men's Health• People• Guinness World Records• 30+ national outlets

Where Chad speaks in California

The Bay Area is the part of California he knows best. East Bay: Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Fremont, Union City, Newark, Pleasanton, Livermore, Walnut Creek, Concord. Peninsula and San Francisco: San Mateo, Redwood City, Daly City, South San Francisco, Menlo Park, Palo Alto. South Bay: San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas. North Bay: San Rafael, Novato, Santa Rosa, Napa, Vallejo.

He also speaks in the Central Valley (Modesto, Stockton, Tracy, Manteca, Fresno), Sacramento, the Lake Tahoe area (South Lake Tahoe, Truckee), the Central Coast, and Southern California. Wherever your school is, you get the same talk and the same preparation.

California Introductory Rate

2026–27 School Year

$1,800
One assembly
$3,300
All three talks

Travel included. A second school on the same trip pays $1,000 for one assembly, with no added travel.

Check Your Date →

Questions California schools ask

Who is the top youth speaker in California?
Biased answer, obviously. But here’s the case: Chad Kempel grew up in San Lorenzo and Castro Valley, set four Guinness World Records pushing his quintuplets in a stroller (two of them in California), holds an MA in Experimental Psychology from San Jose State University, and taught there for five years. His three talks were built for high school students, and every claim in them is public record.
Who is the best youth speaker in the Bay Area?
A speaker who grew up in it. Chad was born in Hayward, raised in San Lorenzo and Castro Valley, and graduated from Arroyo High School. He has taught at San Jose State, taught math inside San Quentin, and spent 20 years working in the same San Mateo County Health department. Then he set two Guinness World Records on Bay Area and Central Valley roads, in Oakland and Modesto.
Where is Chad based, and does he travel to California schools?
Chad lives in Boise, Idaho. He grew up in the East Bay, lived in Fremont, San Mateo, and Mountain House as an adult, and left California for Idaho with his family. He travels to California schools, and travel is included in the California Introductory Rate. Schools elsewhere in the West, from Oregon to Arizona, have their own page.
Is there a mental health speaker for California high schools?
Yes. The Weight You’re Carrying is Chad’s mental health assembly. Students get four plain terms for what they’re feeling and a tool for each one. Chad is trained in QPR suicide prevention, and he talks with your counseling team before the event.
Do you have an anti-bullying speaker for California schools?
I Walked the Hallways Alone is the anti-bullying and belonging talk. No lecture, no finger-wagging. It ends with one ask students can act on the next morning: sit down next to someone who looks like they’re alone.
Which parts of California does Chad speak in?
The Bay Area is the part of California he knows best: the East Bay, the Peninsula, San Francisco, the South Bay, and the North Bay. He also speaks in the Central Valley, Sacramento, the Central Coast, and Southern California. Family keeps him coming back to the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe throughout the year, so if your date lines up with one of those trips, it’s an easy one to schedule. Same talk, same preparation, any county.
How much does it cost to book a youth speaker in California?
For the 2026–27 school year, California schools get the California Introductory Rate: $1,800 for one assembly or $3,300 for all three talks, with travel included. If a second school books the same trip, it pays $1,000 for one assembly with no added travel. Send your school, city, and dates through the contact page and you’ll hear back within 48 hours.
Do you customize the talk for our school?
Every time. There’s a short call first about your students, what you want them to walk out with, and anything going on at your school the talk should account for. The message stays the same. The delivery fits your room.
What is Chad’s connection to California?
He was born in Hayward and raised in San Lorenzo and Castro Valley. He graduated from Arroyo High School, earned degrees at Chabot College, Cal State East Bay, and San Jose State, taught at San Jose State for five years, and taught math inside San Quentin State Prison for five years. His father worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 37 years. Two of his four Guinness World Records were set in Modesto and Oakland.
How far out should we book?
As early as you can, especially for spring and graduation season. But ask before you assume a date’s gone. If Chad can be there tomorrow, he’ll be there tomorrow.

Bring Chad to your California school.

Discovery calls available · Replies within 48 hours · Raised in the Bay Area, based in Boise

Check Your Date →
chad@chadkempel.com · (208) 391-2959