Uncrowned Community Builders

This biography appears in Uncrowned Queens, Volume II. Ina Rebecca Doss Chapman was born in Buffalo, New York and attended Buffalo Public schools. She is the youngest of six siblings born to Elizabeth and the late Monroe Doss.

She has a long career in the health sciences and has several certifications from programs such as the American Society of Clinical Pathologists in Contemporary Issues in Flow Cytometry, the Beckman/Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, Basic Radiation Safety from the University at Buffalo and the Baylor College of Medicine in Health Education. Believing that one should have balance in their lives, she also has certification as a fitness instructor and lifeguard.

For twenty years, Ina worked at Roswell Park Cancer Institute as a Medical Research Technician in Flow Cytometry, Radiation Medicine, and Cancer Control and Epidemiology. In 2002, she was appointed Executive Outreach Coordinator for the Witness Project of Buffalo and Erie County. This is a national cancer education replication and dissemination project, originating at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Buffalo and Erie County project is one of thirty-two sites across the country. The primary goal of the project is to educate the African American community about breast and cervical cancer as well as emphasizing the importance of early detection.

As coordinator, she works with a dedicated team of over thirty staff and volunteers and is responsible for supervising training, conducting seminars and workshops for other organizations, and recruiting lay health advisors and Witness role models. She also works with members of the community through businesses, churches, and community centers to teach women about breast self-exams and cervical cancer screening. Ina Chapman is a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Annual Fund Committee and is a much sought after public speaker.

In 2003, she began a new role as the first lady of the St. John Baptist Church and succeeds in managing a delicate balance between work and church.

She shares a twenty-eight year commitment with her husband, Rev. Michael Chapman. They are residents of the City of Buffalo and are the proud parents of five children, Kenyatta Jameel, Mikeyta Irene, Tiffany Oria, Tera Elizabeth, Michael II, and 14 grandchildren.