Chad 
Chad Kempel: Resume
Research & Data Analyst | Behavioral Health Analytics · Program Evaluation · Compliance Reporting | 20+ Years in Public Health Data | Booking High School & Educator Keynotes | 4x Guinness World Records Holder
About
I help people make decisions they can defend with data. I've been doing some version of that for more than 20 years, mostly in behavioral health, with five years in a university classroom along the way.
Since 2006 that's been San Mateo County Health, and since 2022 under contract through my own company, American Health Data Science, LLC. I've built the analyses behind Board of Supervisors study sessions on youth behavioral health and homelessness spending, served as lead data analyst on state and health plan audits, and pulled the data the county used in its federal Mental Health Block Grant application. Most of my work runs through Microsoft Access and Crystal Reports, with some SQL editing under the hood, and a good part of every project is figuring out what a program manager actually needs to know before I build anything.
During those same years, I taught statistics and psychology at San Jose State, in lecture sections of up to 125 students. I also spent five years volunteering inside San Quentin, teaching math to men working toward their associate's degrees. My MA is in Experimental Psychology from SJSU.
Outside work, things got less normal. I'm a dad of seven, including quintuplets, and I set four Guinness World Records pushing all five of them in one stroller, in the marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 1K. The marathon took three tries. I missed by 46 minutes, then by four, and set it a week after that. Our family has been on the TODAY Show, ABC World News Tonight, and Good Morning America, and in People and the Guinness World Records 2025 book.
That's why I built three talks for high school students and the educators who work with them: "Anything Is Possible," "The Weight You're Carrying," and "I Walked the Hallways Alone." They take the psychology I studied and the things I had to learn the hard way and put them into words a 16-year-old can use. Every time and record I mention is in a public database, so a student who looks me up after the assembly finds the same story I told in the gym.
I'm always glad to talk about research and data work, and I'm booking keynotes for high schools and educator conferences.
chad@chadkempel.com | chadkempel.com
Services
I've built three talks for high school assemblies and educator conferences on stress, mental health, and belonging, drawing on research psychology and four Guinness World Records. Through American Health Data Science, LLC, I also provide data reporting, database development, and analytics for behavioral health programs, backed by 20+ years in public health data and five years teaching statistics at San Jose State. chad@chadkempel.com
Work location: Boise, Idaho; available to work remotely
Featured
The freeze response, the eighth-grade locker room where I learned it firsthand, and what helps you snap out of it. Written for high school students.
The official record page. 4 hours 42 minutes 49 seconds at the Modesto Marathon in 2019, set on my third attempt.
Featured as ABC's Person of the Week in April 2022, after I ran the Oakland half marathon pushing my quintuplets.
Three talks for high school assemblies and educator conferences, with booking details.
Experience
20 years with San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (November 2006 to present): embedded research analyst, systems engineer, management analyst, and contract principal analyst.
Youth & Educator Speaker (Now Booking 2026–27)
I've built three talks for high school students, and the adults who work with them, about adversity, mental health, and belonging. The material comes from two places: the research psychology I studied and taught, and a lot of finish lines, a few of them on the third or fourth try. That includes four Guinness World Records I set pushing my quintuplets in a stroller, Ironman Canada, a 100-mile run, and an Alcatraz swim I finished after three failed attempts.
I've presented research at national psychology conventions, including the American Psychological Association, and taught lecture sections of up to 125 students at San Jose State.
Anything Is Possible is the flagship all-school assembly. It's built around three Guinness World Records marathon attempts, two misses, and what it took to show up for the third.
The Weight You're Carrying is a mental health assembly that gives students plain words for what they're feeling, without putting a stigma label on it.
I Walked the Hallways Alone is about belonging and school culture, and nothing it asks students to do costs a dime.
Each talk can be tailored to the room, whether that's an all-school assembly, a graduation, or a counselor conference.
Booking: chad@chadkempel.com | chadkempel.com
- Speaking: Talks and BookingThree talks for high school assemblies and educator conferences, with booking details.
- ABC World News Tonight: Person of the WeekFeatured as ABC's Person of the Week in April 2022, after I ran the Oakland half marathon pushing my quintuplets.
- Why You Freeze Under Pressure, and How to Snap Out of It
Owner & Principal Analyst
This is my own health data analytics company. Since January 2022, I've done the same management analyst work I did on staff for San Mateo County Health's Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, but now under contract.
- Built the data analyses and briefing materials for Board of Supervisors study sessions on youth behavioral health, homelessness spending, and MHSA programs. The board cited the findings in its decisions.
- Lead data analyst for DHCS triennial reviews, EQRO quality reviews, and health plan credentialing and compliance audits. Every one was completed successfully.
- Pulled and prepared the data used in the county's federal Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) application, plus data for MHSA Annual Reports, AB109 quarterly fiscal reports, and SAMHSA block grant submissions.
- Ran implementation analytics for CalAIM, the CARE Act, and Epic EHR migration planning.
- Took the county's behavioral health access line reporting through a platform upgrade and a triennial audit.
- Monitored utilization and performance for the county's contracted behavioral health providers, and those analyses were used in contract renewals.
- Tracked homelessness program spending and utilization in recurring cost reports that went into budget decisions.
Substitute Teacher
On-call general substitute in Idaho's largest school district, running classrooms and teaching prepared lessons across grade levels and subjects. That year put me in front of the same students and teachers I now write talks for.
County of San Mateo Full-time
Management Analyst
- Designed dashboards for client demographics, diagnoses, and service trends, which division leadership adopted for operational and strategic decisions.
- Built the county's behavioral health access line reporting, starting with the metric design.
- Analyzed Medi-Cal penetration rates and managed care data alongside the county's local health plan.
- Produced recurring caseload and staffing analyses for labor relations reporting and workforce planning.
- Research and statistical consultant on psychiatry residency research projects, and a member of the BHRS Internal Review Board.
- Certified Employee Engagement Champion: coached managers and teams on strengthening employee engagement.
- Led the rollout of SharePoint Team Sites.
Systems Engineer / Database Analyst
- Designed and maintained the division's reporting database, and regularly led troubleshooting and time-sensitive ad hoc reporting.
- Worked with IT on data standards and procedures, fixed gaps, and rolled out software upgrades.
- Built compliance reports with Quality Improvement staff to meet state and federal requirements, and designed simple interfaces so any staff member could get to data and reports.
- Built the division's Grievance, Autism, and Space Planning databases so staff could track and report their own information.
- Used Microsoft Access, Avatar, Crystal Reports, and Enlightened Analytics every day.
Lecturer, Psychology & Statistics
Taught Elementary Statistics, General Psychology, Cognition, and Psychology of Personality.
- Wrote daily lesson plans that mixed group and individual work, and designed my own assessments for each concept.
- Used tablets, i>clicker response systems, Socrative, and BigBlueButton to keep lecture sections of up to 125 students engaged.
- Built and taught a fully online course in 2016, with video lectures and quizzes, an anonymous discussion board, and live web office hours.
- Assessed student learning every semester for the university's general education review and changed my teaching based on the results. Requiring in-class practice raised the share of students earning a C or better from 62% to 70%.
Prins, Williams Analytics, LLC
Research Associate
- Coordinated data collection and processing for statewide programs, including the California Department of Mental Health's Performance Outcome and Quality Improvement Unit and the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program.
- Built and maintained databases combining organizational and project data, then analyzed them with relational databases, spreadsheets, and statistical software.
- Designed TeleForm survey data-capture systems from form design through export scripts and merges.
- Trained peer support workers twice a year to administer the California Department of Health Care Services Consumer Perception Survey.
- Carried out research, trainings, and data presentations for San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, and data analysis and data collection form design for Marin County.
- Ran literature searches, wrote reports, and presented findings.
Research Assistant
Counselor
Worked with campers ages 5 to 18 who had learning disabilities or social challenges. I helped set individual treatment goals, built individual and team programming, ran parent meetings, wrote behavior evaluations, took part in daily group therapy, and handled conflicts as they came up.
Research Assistant
- Supported the principal investigator on an NIH grant, from co-authoring the protocol and safety manual to coding, transcribing, and analyzing data.
- Ran the literature searches for a meta-analytic review and built the tools for statistically coding the studies.
- Trained other assistants and presented findings at a national conference.
Journeyman Food Clerk
Started as a courtesy clerk, then worked as a bookkeeper and a journeyman food clerk. Worked here through high school and my years at Chabot College.
Education
San Jose State University
San Jose State University
Coursework in Analysis of Variance, Experimental Psychology, Multivariate Analysis, Original Research, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, and Personality Theory. Presented research at professional conferences.
Thesis: The Personality and Mental Health of Physical and Social Scientists. Advisor: Gregory J. Feist, Ph.D.
Teaching assistant for General Psychology, Fall 2008 to Spring 2009.
California State University, East Bay
Coursework in Psychological Methodology, Principles of Surveys and Test Construction, Psychological Tests, Analysis of Variance in the Behavioral Sciences, Applied Multivariate Analysis, Data Analysis Using Statistical Packages, Introduction to Probability and Statistics, and Statistical Methods in Social Sciences.
Dean's List. Presented research at professional conferences.
Chabot College
It was here that I discovered my love for psychology.
Arroyo High School
Arroyo High School, San Lorenzo, California
Activities: Wrestling
Training
Community Response Team Training (Psychological First Aid and QPR)
Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) Training for Suicide Prevention
Volunteering
Volunteer
Completed the state's volunteer training and earned Level 2 status after logging the required hours inside as a Level 1 volunteer.
Instructor
Taught math to incarcerated students working toward their associate's degree, wrote and graded the exams, and gave feedback that helped them learn.
Student Representative, Executive Committee
Represented student members on the society's executive committee.
Coach
Coached the Santa Clara and San Benito County track and field team. Ran practices and events and helped athletes work toward their own goals.
Reviewer
Ad hoc reviewer for the annual convention.
Reviewer
Ad hoc reviewer for the Student Grant Competition, the Student Research Award, and the award for research on socially and economically underrepresented populations.
Occupational Therapy Assistant
Put in more than 100 hours helping psychiatric patients rebuild daily life skills and work toward their own recovery goals.
Skills
Top skills: Data Analysis, Program Evaluation, Public Speaking, Research Design, Statistics.
Publications
Psychological Profiles of STEM and Social Scientists
Feist, G.J., Batey, M., & Kempel, C.R.
Symposium presentation.
Social and Computer Scientists: Separated by Personality and Mental Health?
Kempel, C.R. & Feist, G.J.
Poster presentation.
The Personality and Mental Health of Physical and Social Scientists
Kempel, C.R. & Feist, G.J.
Poster presentation, also presented at the International Society for the Psychology of Science and Technology conference in Berkeley, CA, the same month.
A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Relationship Between Personality and Mental Health in Persons Who Are Interested in Physical Science
Murphy, M., Feist, G.J., & Kempel, C.R.
Poster presentation.
The Personality and Mental Health of Physical and Social Scientists (Master's Thesis)
Kempel, C.R.
Master's thesis. Advisor: Gregory J. Feist, Ph.D.
The Personality and Mental Health of Physical and Social Scientists
Kempel, C.R. & Feist, G.J.
Research presentation.
Meta-Analysis of Dependent Effect Sizes: Extracting More Information from Each Experimental Study
Rodriguez, W.A., Heaton, J.L., Chersse, H., Kempel, C.R., & Laxamana, J.G.
Poster presentation.
The Graduate School Experience
Kempel, C.R.
Article.
How Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Agreeableness Are Related to Social Support
Reevy, G.M. & Kempel, C.R.
Poster presentation.
How Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Agreeableness Are Related to Social Support
Reevy, G.M. & Kempel, C.R.
Poster presentation.
Context Effects on Risk Through Gambling
Kempel, C.R., Laxamana, J.G., & Witt, M.
Research presentation.
Courses
- Teaching Statistics and Research Methods, two-day conference, Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Georgia, 2012
- Data Security and Privacy
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) & Protecting Education Records
Honors & awards
Featured in Guinness World Records 2025 and Ripley's Believe It or Not! Dare to Discover
Guinness World Records 2025, page 179, and Ripley's, page 105. The stroller is on display at the Guinness World Records Museum in Copenhagen.
Fastest 1 km Pushing a Quintuple Stroller (Male)
5 minutes 34 seconds in Eagle, Idaho.
Fastest Half Marathon Pushing a Quintuple Stroller (Male)
2 hours 19 minutes 55 seconds in Oakland, California.
Fastest 10 km Pushing a Quintuple Stroller (Male)
1 hour 4 minutes 52.9 seconds in Garden City, Idaho.
Fastest Marathon Pushing a Quintuple Stroller (Male)
4 hours 42 minutes 49 seconds at the Modesto Marathon in Modesto, California. It took three tries: I missed by 46 minutes, then by four, and set it a week later.
Fundraiser Award
Fundraiser Award for raising over $10,000 for patient care and research.
Ironman
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.2-mile run completed in 15 hrs 18 mins 36 secs
Company
Chad Kempel Speaking
Anything Is Possible is the flagship all-school assembly, about what it takes to keep showing up after you fail. The Weight You're Carrying gives students plain words for what they're feeling, without putting a stigma label on it. I Walked the Hallways Alone is about belonging and school culture, and nothing it asks students to do costs a dime. Each talk is tailored to the room, from a full gym to a counselor conference. Now booking the 2026–27 school year. chad@chadkempel.com | chadkempel.com
Chad Kempel has built talks for high school students and their educators about the pressure kids carry and what helps them through it. He draws on five years teaching statistics at San Jose State, five more teaching math inside San Quentin State Prison, and four Guinness World Records he set pushing his quintuplets in a stroller. His flagship assembly, Anything Is Possible, grew out of a marathon record that took three tries to set. chad@chadkempel.com
Services: Public Speaking, Training, Educational Consulting. Company page on LinkedIn