Jeffery Beckham, Jr.

Jeffery Beckham Jr. is Chief Executive Officer at Chicago Scholars, CO-CEO of Reach Pathways, and an award-winning acrylic painter. In his role as CEO of Chicago Scholars, Jeffery is responsible for leading the organization that serves more than 6,000 first-generation and low-income students to reach their dreams to pursue a college education and achieve economic freedom. Since 2007, Chicago Scholars has beenresponsible with connection over 10,000 students with more than 700,000,000+ of merit aid.Jeffery is a community leader, artist, and 2X founder who uses his national platform to fight for equity in education for urban communities. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the 100 Black, Arose Foundation, and the Building Better Futures. He is also a sought-after speaker with appearances at McKinsey & Co., Facebook, Groupon, among others and has been featured as an expert source on Fox-32, ABC, CBS, WBEZ’s Chicago Tonight and RESET, WCIU’s The Jam and Chicago.Now, among others.Jeffery’s thoughtful and dedicated leadership has received numerous awards. WVON and Ariel Investments named Jeffery one of Chicago’s Top 40 Game Changers Under 40 years old in 2015, he was a finalist for the Chicago Inno 50 on Fire Award in 2016, and The RAY Awards named him their 2019 Man of the Year, in 2021 he was named a Chicago Defender Man of Excellence, and in 2021 he was Awarded the Callahan Celebration of Giving Service award. In 2022 he was selected as a Black Creativity Innovator by the Museum of Science and Industry. In 2023 Jeffery has been honored by The Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, National Black Prosecutors Association and in 2023, Jeff won the SXSW Global Pitch competition in Austin, Texas as Co-CEO of REACH Pathways L3C the new ed-tech company he leads that was birthed inside Chicago Scholars. Jeffery is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc, and Alum of The Impact LeadershipDevelopment Program and Leadership Greater Chicago fellow since 2023. He’s also a 27-year member of New Faith Baptist Church and is an active leader in Chicago’s Bronzeville Community.