Public Intellectual | Public Theologian | Public Speaker
Reverend Professor Keith Magee
The Reverend Professor Keith Magee Th.D., FRHistS, FRSA is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor of Practice in Cultural Justice at the University College London (UCL) Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and a Senior Fellow in Culture and Justice at its Centre on U.S. Politics (CUSP), along with being Chair and Professor of Practice in Social Justice at Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University. Equally essential, he is Chair of The Guardian Foundation.
Noted a public intellectual, theologian, and social justice scholar, Magee has a professional career of over three decades in public theology, public policy and political affairs, all leading to social justice. His eclectic studies have taken him through the prestigious halls of Ohio University, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Divinity School and Grace International Bible College. He was conferred the doctorate of theology with a focus on religious history. He also has training in economics, pastoral counselling and strategic planning. Magee's research and teaching interests include social justice, civil rights, and voting rights and the intersection of US race, religion, and politics.
One of his greatest accomplishments was serving for five years as the founding director of the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago, IL. He successfully led and initiated a $13 million capital campaign for the museum, which is committed to being a living cultural experience on social justice and human rights, illuminating the power of place. He took the appointment after serving as a senior director of advancement at the Museum of African American History-Boston and Nantucket, a collection of historic properties. Having raised over $5 million dollars for the restoration of the African Meeting House, he took a leave from the museum to serve as senior religious affairs advisor with the Obama for America 2007-08 campaign.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s US Ambassador to the Court of St James’s has appointed him to the U.S. - U.K. Fulbright Commission, having served on the Biden 2020 President Campaign’s African American Kitchen Cabinet. He serves as the Co-Chair of the Endowment Committee on the Board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ($50 million) and Trustee of Facing History and Ourselves. He is an elected Councillor of Democrats Abroad U.K. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan appointed him as a Commissioner on Diversity in the Public Realm. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was inducted into the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars. He is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Magee is the author of Prophetic Justice: On Race, Religion, and Politics (2021), Paper Tigers: Adverse Children Experience Studies, Faith Leaders Guide (2016) and A Prayer for Our Children (2014). He was commissioned to write the foreword for Towards the Compassionate School: From Golden Rule to Golden Thread (2015). He is an op-ed contributor for CNN, NBC, Time, The Guardian, and LSE, and a pundit on CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera on issues of social justice, race, religion and politics. He and his nine-year-old son are based in London, United Kingdom.
Reverend
Rooted in the Methodist tradition, Reverend Magee’s ministerial calling has led him to further leadership roles as pastor of The Living Room @The Berachah Church in Boston, MA, resident seminarian at Mount Carmel Church, and minister of summer programs in Northminister Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. He has served on the White House African American Clergy Network and as co-chair of the Massachusetts Council of Chaplains in State Institutions for Governor Deval Patrick.
Humanitarian
Magee is passionate about providing humanitarian aid to children and families throughout the world. He is co-founder of Abba House, created for children infected and affected with HIV/AIDS. He has served as patron for Co-ED Foundation in the United Kingdom and on the board of advisors for the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference Institute.
As a dyslexic, one of his most significant accomplishments is a co-creator of the Multicultural Initiative at Yale University Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. He has secured over $15 millions to develop programs and initiatives that advocate and support dyslexia. One of the efforts lead to the co-founding the St. Joseph’s University Urban Teachers Masters of Education Residency Training Program.