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Meet the Leader
Christopher "Chris" Chatmon is CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO). Chris founded KOO and served as the first executive director of the African American Male Achievement (AAMA) for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). He has also served as the Deputy Chief of Equity and Senior Advisor on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Office of the Superintendent. Chris was named as a "Leader to Learn From" by Education Week magazine and was selected as a Campaign for Black Male Achievement "Social Innovation Accelerator" because he is committed to improving life outcomes for all youth and especially African American males.
Chris is passionate about uplifting the African American community and has dedicated his career and life work to creating pathways of success within Oakland and beyond. Prior to working with OUSD, Chris was the principal of an alternative high school in San Francisco, and Executive Director of Urban Services at the YMCA in Oakland for over 10 years. He started his career in education teaching history and physical education in the San Francisco Unified School District.
Chris earned his M.A. in Education and a secondary teaching credential in Social Science from Brown University. He also holds a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Physical Education from San Francisco State University.
Chris also received a 1954 Project Beacon Award in 2021.
About the Organization
Kingmakers of Oakland is an award winning non-profit that originated in the Oakland Unified School District’s 1st in the country Office of American Male Achievement (AAMA).
After 10+ years in the district, the independent non-profit now supports school districts across the country to improve the educational and life outcomes of Black boys by “healing the fish while treating the toxic ecosystem.”
This multi-faceted approach is rooted in a desire to collaborate, coordinate and convene folks who are inspired to create a healthy, affirming learning environment for Black boys in the public school system.
Through professional development, narrative change resources, curriculum and more, Kingmakers helps each unique district transform their school environment.
Meet All the Awardees
Each leader is transforming education across the United States. They're building new learning models, developing talent pipelines for the classroom and beyond, and creating pathways to economic power for Black students and communities.
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