Reyahd D.J. Kazmi is the owner of Kazmi Advisors, LLC, a national consulting firm providing strategic advising, government strategy, relationship management, advocacy, and community engagement to both private and public sector organizations. Mr. Kazmi serves as an outside advisor to each organization. His recent efforts have produced over $200M in new revenue for clients.
Expanding his consultant work, Mr. Kazmi joined Civint, a national consulting firm that provides municipal strategy, advocacy, and connectivity services to private sector companies.
In addition to his consulting practice and work, Mr. Kazmi is deeply engaged in social service issues as the Chief Advocacy & Government Strategies Officer for National Youth Advocate Program, Inc. (NYAP), one of the country’s largest providers of therapeutic foster care, restorative justice, and community-based programming. He has served at NYAP since 2012 and now oversees advocacy programs; partnership development; contracts with all private and public sector partners; and growth initiatives which helped increase NYAP's revenues by over 300%.
Also, due to his love for education, Mr. Kazmi is a Lecturer at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University and an Instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Mr. Kazmi has served in governmental and political capacities at the local, state and federal level. After an initial career in Ohio, he moved to Chicago where he served as Chief of Staff for Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neely and was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, where he previously served, as a Commissioner on the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
Appointed by IL Governor JB Pritzker, Mr. Kazmi serves on the state’s Youth Budget Commission. Previously, Mr. Kazmi served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights’ Illinois Advisory Committee and was appointed by the IL General Assembly as a founding member of the state’s Taskforce on Developing Opportunities for Youth who are Jobless and Out-of-School.
Politically, he has worked on and advised numerous campaigns including Obama for America, and most recently, Biden for President where he served as a Senior Political Advisor. Currently, Mr. Kazmi is a political commentator for NewsNation.
Mr. Kazmi is an active member of City Church Chicago, a Founding Board Member of :20 Second Timeout Foundation, a Board Member for Accelerator for America Action, and a Board Member for both the Mikva Challenge and UCAN. In addition, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Business Leadership Council, The Executive’s Club, and The Economic Club of Chicago.
Mr. Kazmi is a graduate of The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and Glenn School of Public Affairs where he received his Juris Doctorate and Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management. In addition, Mr. Kazmi is a graduate of the Chicago Urban League and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business’ highly competitive IMPACT Leadership Development program.
Mr. Kazmi, his family, and their dog, Jazzy, live in Chicago.
