Imari K. Paris Jeffries, PhD
Photo courtesy of Embrace Boston
UMass Chan Medical School will welcome Imari K. Paris Jeffries, PhD, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, to serve as its keynote speaker for its 37th annual tribute in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The 2025 MLK Celebration of Service at UMass Chan is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, at 11:30 a.m.
Dr. Jeffries leads Embrace Boston, an arts, culture, research and policy center that aims to dismantle structural racism through the Embrace monument on the Boston Common and community organizing efforts, such as the Embrace Ideas Festival this summer. He is a member of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees and received his PhD at UMass Boston.
Jeffries is a U.S. Army veteran who was recently named one of the 150 most influential Bostonians by Boston Magazine and is listed among the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50.
During the MLK tribute, a member of the UMass Chan community will be honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Student Awards will be presented, further connecting the UMass Chan community to the service legacy of the civil rights leader.
The in-person celebration will be held in the faculty conference room in the Medical School building. The event will also be streamed live on Zoom.
