Cover Story
Laura Miller Managing Editor Steven Koch Photography
Jeffery Beckham Jr
The Living Canvas Jeffery "Jeff" Beckham Jr. is the kind of man who walks into a room with presence before he ever says a word. A scarf rests just right over his blazer. The calm way he studies a space—not for show, but for understanding—draws people in before he speaks a syllable. I first saw him at the 2018 Culture Ball. He stood in the center of a circle of Black men—not posturing, not performing—but rather, holding the moment. The kind of presence that makes you ask: Who is that— and what weight does he carry? While one would never ask, we chose to explore and learn more about one of Chicago’s most distinguished gentlemen.
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Chicago News Weekly
Beckham carries purpose in his posture. He is CEO of one of the city’s most important college-access nonprofits, co-founder of an education technology company, and an artist whose work speaks as profoundly as his mission. A builder. A witness. A renaissance man who doesn’t need to announce it. Born to young parents—his mother just 19, his father 22—Beckham came of age at 86th Street and Sangamon Avenue in a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side. He shared bunk beds in the living room with his little sister. His mother worked as a nurse at South Shore Hospital. His father, fresh into a job at Xerox, filled their space with the
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May 8 - May 14, 2025