Tom Chappell and his wife Kate left the corporate world for Kennebunk, Maine, in 1968 to move "back to the land," where they have raised their five children. Since cofounding Tom's of Maine with Kate in 1970, he has dedicated himself to growing a company that produces innovative, natural personal care products in a caring and creative work environment.

Tom hopes to set an example of ethical business standards for others. His first book, The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good, set a practical yet powerful new agenda for ethical and profitable business leadership in the 1990s. His most recent book, Managing Upside Down: Seven Intentions for Values-Centered Leadership, was released in September of 1999. It offers an insightful step-by-step guide to Tom's management philosophy: leading with one's values by integrating the organizational, financial, and social components of a business.

Along with the book's release, Tom founded the Saltwater Institute, a nonprofit organization offering innovative leadership development programs such as The Seven Intentions® of Values-Centered Leadership Program. These programs provide performance tools to help executives and their organizations create profitable values-centered enterprises.

A 1966 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, with a B.A. in English, Tom earned a Masters in Theology at Harvard Divinity School in 1991. He is active in the Episcopal Church of Maine, was a deputy to the 1991 and 1994 Triennial General Conference of the Episcopal Church, and was a member of the Environmental Stewardship Team of the national Episcopal Church. He is active in many cultural and philanthropic organizations, among them the Dean's Council for Harvard Divinity School, the Advisory Council for the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, and the President's Advisory Council for The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church.