Meet Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr.

Baltimore native Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, Jr. was born into a tradition of public service. His great grandmother, Lillie Jackson, led the NAACP's fight against segregation in Baltimore. His grandfather, Clarence Mitchell, Jr. was a civil rights trailblazer whose sense of social justice strongly influenced several Presidents. Juanita Mitchell, his grandmother, was the first black female attorney in the state of Maryland. And Parren Mitchell, his uncle, was the first African-American elected to the U.S. Congress from Maryland.

Keiffer’s interest in politics was evident very early in his life.  When he was three years old, he took part in his first political campaign, handing out flyers for the State Senate bid of his uncle, Clarence Mitchell III. His mother, Nannette, later told a magazine writer, "We didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't Clarence's district."  At age seven, Keiffer found himself chatting on the phone with President Gerald Ford who had called the Mitchell home to ask his grandfather to represent the United States at the U.N. These experiences helped spark Keiffer’s future activism.  At age twelve, while attending Baltimore's Boys' Latin School, he organized a "Kids-for-Carter" campaign. And as an undergraduate at Emory University, Keiffer volunteered at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta and demonstrated against the Ku Klux Klan in rural Georgia.

After graduating from Emory with a degree in political science, Keiffer went on to the District of Columbia School of Law, receiving his law degree in 1994. Outside of the classroom, he served as a White House intern during the Clinton Administration and as a law clerk for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Keiffer describes his employment with the Maryland Public Defender's Office and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as "tremendous learning experiences [about] how government works and how to make it work better.”

In 1995, Keiffer returned to his alma mater, Boys' Latin School, to teach classes in United States History, African-American History and Maryland History. In that same year, he was elected to the Baltimore City Council, serving as Chair of the Education and Human Resources Committee and Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee.  Both of these assignments were reflective of two of his primary concerns – education and public safety in Baltimore City.

As lead sponsor of the bill that created the Urban Education Reform Commission, he spearheaded efforts to replace jurisdictional squabbling over the school system with genuine accountability. Keiffer successfully fought for and secured a $3 million investment in modern computers for City schools. He also sought fiscal responsibility from our school system. When schools faced a looming fiscal crisis, a local paper dubbed Keiffer the "Man with the Plan" based on his leadership in securing a $42 million loan to the school system.  That loan has since been paid in full.

The impact of crime and drugs on once thriving neighborhoods led Keiffer to take a simple, but direct approach. Early one morning, he arrived at one of the city's most notorious drug corners with a card table, a pad of paper and a small placard reading Office of Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr.  He recalled that he was struck “by the young people caught up in drug use and trafficking that desperately wanted to get out but didn't know how." More than twenty people signed up for drug counseling that same day. Keiffer continued to set up his open-air office on other corners of the city throughout his tenure as a Council member.  At times he was joined by experts in job training, health care and senior services.

In 2000, Keiffer served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles and was appointed Chair of Baltimore's Human Services Commission. Two years later, he was re-elected to the City Council, named to the Democratic State Central Committee and appointed 2nd Vice-Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party.

Keiffer left Boys' Latin in 2002 to complete his own financial education with the A.G. Edwards brokerage firm and later with Harbor Bank. After learning the ropes as a teller, he moved up to a key post in marketing and development. A longtime opponent of predatory lending, the position helped him appreciate "the challenge of financing new business in under-served areas of the city."

Encouraging business and community development has long been part of Keiffer's agenda. As Chair of the City Council's Tax and Finance Committee, he played a key role in structuring the tax package for the redevelopment of Mondawmin Mall as well as major projects in Charles Village, Locust Point, Harborview and elsewhere. His sponsorship of a lien release program enabled community development organizations to rehabilitate vacant, blighted properties. As an active and engaged member of the Baltimore City Council, Keiffer also took an uncompromising stand against decisions he believed ran "counter to the best interest of the community," from the city's investment in a Convention Center hotel to automatic salary increases for elected officials.

Keiffer was re-elected to his third Council term in 2004 and served as a member of the Judiciary and Legislative Committee as well as the Education, Housing, Health and Human Services Committee. In 1999 and in 2005, he was voted Baltimore's "Best Politician" by the City Paper.

In 2007, Keiffer returned to the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Laurens Street, one of the initial sites of his "Take Back the Streets" campaign, to announce his candidacy for the Mayor of Baltimore. While the campaign did not result in being elected Mayor, Keiffer was successful in calling attention to serious public safety issues that existed in the City at that time as well as the persistent ethics issues and lack of transparency that had plagued city government in recent years.

From 2007 to 2010, Keiffer continued his efforts to support small business through his work at Wachovia Bank as a Small Business Banking Officer. Most recently, he founded the Mitchell London Group, LLC, to provide strategic counsel and advice to businesses and non-profits regarding government and community affairs.He was also recently appointed as a lecturer in the Political Science Department of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Keiffer remains an active member of his community, serving on the Board of Trustees at the Boys' Latin School and the Echo Hill Outdoor School Board.  He also serves on the boards for The Family Tree and Habitat for Humanity. Keiffer is a lifelong parishioner at Sharp Street United Methodist Church. He lives in Baltimore's historic Bolton Hill where he served on the board of his neighborhood organization, the Mount Royal Improvement Association.

Keiffer is married to childhood friend Nicole Kramer.  They are the proud parents of son Jack, age 8 and daughter Kenna, age 6.