CHICAGO – Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced today that Khari (Matthew) Humphries will join the administration as Senior Director of Youth Policy in the Mayor’s Office of Education and Human Services. Khari brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in community relations and non-for-profit work to serve Chicago’s youth. 

“Our young people deserve dedicated, experienced, and forward-thinking leaders who will fulfill their needs and help develop innovative programs for their socioemotional and academic enrichment," said Mayor Lightfoot. "With more than two decades of experience in fields related to this work, Khari has proven that he possesses this leadership and will ensure children and at-risk youth have access to the resources they need to thrive. I am thrilled to formally welcome Khari to the team and am confident that he will continue the fight to create a better Chicago for our kids." 

Prior to joining Mayor Lightfoot’s administration, Khari served as the Executive Director of School Age Strategies for Thrive Chicago, creating collaborative networks of people and data-accelerating innovation for Chicago’s youth. Khari also served as Senior Manager of Community Life for The Community Builders, Inc. in Bronzeville for nine years. He planned and executed programs to deepen community engagement, and assist thousands of residents living in affordable housing with obtaining financial stability and gaining access to asset development, youth development, education, workforce development. He has also served in director roles at both the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago and the Champaign Park District. Khari’s extensive background in youth development and youth programs informed the contributions that he made as a consultant to the Chicago Out-of-School Project, a citywide effort involving youth-serving City departments and community-based organizations.  

“This is important work at a crucial time for the City. I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to serve Chicago in an effort to enhance the youth opportunity ecosystem by putting to work my years of service in affordable housing, youth development, collective impact, parks and recreation,” said Khari Humpries, Senior Director of Youth Policy. “I am the sum total of my experiences growing up in Chicago as a beneficiary of amazing youth programs, summer employment, caring adults, and neighborhoods that nurtured my development positively toward a pathway into adulthood, and this is why this post is so meaningful to me. To have the opportunity to work on this historic investment of resources that will benefit our city's youth and communities is a moment I knew I could not say no to.” 

Khari received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from St. Xavier University and is a 2018 Fellow of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Civic Leadership Academy. He is a certified trainer through the National Training Institute of Community Youth Work for Advancing Youth Development (AYD), as well as a certified external assessor coach and youth methods trainer for the David P. Weikart Center for youth program quality, a trained Circle Keeper, and Racial Healing Practitioner. Khari is an active member of the Greater Bronzeville Community, a proud father of two sons that attend CPS schools and the husband of an educator. 

Khari joins Julie Burnett, Senior Director of Education Policy, and Jaye Stapleton, Senior Director of Social Services Policy, to form a strong leadership team for the Mayor’s Office of Education and Human Services. Julie Burnett, a 20-plus year educator, is responsible for Mayoral priorities that span early childhood through post-secondary. Jaye Stapleton stewards the administration’s health and social service missions, including supporting social services coordination through the Community Safety Coordination Center (CSCC). The mission of the Mayor’s Office of Education and Human Services is to maximize opportunities, promote just policies, and advocate for systems and resources that enable lifelong learning, health, and wellbeing with an unwavering commitment to equitable outcomes for all. 

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