About

Rev. Jamar A. Boyd, II serves as Senior Pastor of Kenwood United Church of Christ – Chicago. Jamar is also the Associate, Office of the President at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

He joined the Foundation in 2023 after two years as Senior Manager of Organizational Impact for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. As a member of the Senior Leadership team Jamar contributed to the organizational strategy engaging African American clergy and emerging leaders in racial justice. Previously, he was the Justice Reform and Economic Justice Organizer at Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP). Additionally, he was a graduate fellow of The Gift of Black Theological Education & The Black Church Collaborative (The Collaborative).

Jamar received a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Georgia Southern University, and a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.

Furthermore, he serves as member of the Aspen Institute’s Racial Justice & Religion Collective, Board member of Oikos Institute for Social Change, Board member of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council, Board member of the Norma J. Sanders Free Clinic and consultant to The Collaborative.

Rev. Boyd is a featured contributor in Preaching During a Pandemic: The Rhetoric of the Black Preaching Tradition, Volume I (Studies in Communication, Culture, Race, and Religion). Further compositions are available online with Abernathy Magazine, Baptist News Global, Faithfully Magazine, Medium, and Sojourners Magazine. 

“And a higher level of consciousness among the people is the only hope we have, now or in the future, of minimizing human damage.” - James Baldwin