Kelwin Harris

Kelwin Harris is a city planner and civic leader in the Chicago community. He was recently named a Crain’s Notable Black Leader in 2024 and was a TEDx Speaker at TEDxArlington Heights 2025. Kelwin’s work focuses on creating equitable communities, empowering people that have been historically excluded from connectivity, and dismantling inequality. Kelwin has over 20 years of experience working at the city, county, and regional levels and in grassroots community development.

Kelwin is currently the Chief Civic Engagement Officer with the Cook County Assessor’s Office where he leads outreach and public engagement for the nearly 2 million property owners in Cook County. In this role, he created the office’s Racial Equity and Real Estate Conversations series assembling local and national experts to provide solutions to racial disparities in housing and real estate in Chicago. The initiative won an achievement award from the National Association of Counties (NACO) in 2022. 

Prior to joining the Cook County Assessor’s Office, Kelwin was a Senior Outreach Planner with The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) where he led public engagement for Chicago’s official regional plan, ON TO 2050. Before this, Kelwin held numerous leadership roles serving the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, on the Southside of Chicago, including directing one of Catholic Charities’ emergency assistance sites and leading workforce development and community violence initiatives. He also served as Executive Director of a non-profit providing educational resources for youth in the community. Kelwin started his career in government relations as an Assistant to Mayor Richard M. Daley, where he coordinated initiatives for the city’s public housing and human capital departments. 

Kelwin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in City & Regional Planning from Cornell University and a Master in Urban Planning Degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Kelwin also holds a Professional Certificate in Municipal Finance from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Kelwin currently serves on the Boards of Directors of MIKVA Challenge, a national non-profit focusing on increasing civic engagement amongst young people and the Historic Pullman Foundation, the friends group of the Pullman National Historic Monument and Park.

Other notable accomplishments: