Newsroom Archive

Donald Chapman

Senior Adviser on Native American Affairs
U.S. Department of Commerce

Don Chapman was appointed on November 5, 2009 by Secretary Gary Locke as the first senior adviser on Native American Affairs, Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

At the Department of Commerce, Chapman is charged with helping implement the secretary's ambitious agenda to directly improve the economic profile of Indian Country through both economic business development and policy implementation activities. He is coordinating the Tribal Consultation Policy implementation across all of the Commerce agencies and bureaus as well as serving as the secretary's tribal liaison and Indian Country economic development lead.

Chapman is a member of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut and has made a career in working as a senior executive for numerous tribal companies and outreach entities.

“The Department of Commerce is committed to enhancing the policy consultation process with Indian Country across all of our agencies and bureaus based on the spirit of and respect for the culture of service that has existed in tribal communities for generations. Secretary Locke has a longstanding commitment to working with tribal nations on a government-to-government basis as shown in his tenure as two-time governor of the state of Washington. He brings this same dedication and commitment to tribal sovereignty rights, self-governance and self-determination with him as Secretary of Commerce.

“Our department-wide policy originates from the Tribal Consultation policies and activities which have been a long-standing practice of both NOAA and Census.”

Prior to his appointment, Chapman served as a senior executive manager with the Wyandotte Tribal Corporation, Chenega Advanced Solutions and Engineering (ANC), TKC Communications (ANC), and as a senior consultant for NCAIED Washington D.C. PTAC office. Prior to his tribal business experience, Chapman worked in the private technology sector as applications engineer in the Ericsson Cell Phone Design group, General Dynamics Optical Engineering Group (Advances Technologies Group) and as a partner in the technical manufacturers representative group Mechtronics Sales.

Chapman is a graduate of Norfolk Collegiate and is currently attending University of Maryland University College studying information systems management and business administration. He is married to Holly Day Chapman. They have two children, Matthew and Christopher. They make their home in Leesburg, Va.