Meet Matt Brewer

Matt Brewer is a proud South Side native and a candidate for Chicago mayor. He is an entrepreneur, small business owner, lawyer, government leader, and nonprofit founder who has contributed to the city in multiple capacities, most recently as CEO and Board Chair of the Chicago Housing Authority.

Matt was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side where his mother raised him and his brother. He attended Beasley Academic Center and Mount Carmel High School and had the opportunity to learn from coaches, teachers, mentors, and leadership programs that opened up a world of opportunity. After graduating high school, Matt attended Stanford University, where he was elected the first African American student body president in the school’s history. After college, he received the Henry Luce Fellowship and moved to Beijing, where he lived and worked in the Chinese music industry. He later earned his law degree from Yale Law School and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

While his studies and early career opportunities allowed him to travel the world, Matt always knew he would return home. Back in Chicago, Matt has contributed to the city in a variety of ways, including by founding the floChicago program to inspire the next generation of leaders. For the past 13 years, he has served as a Commissioner, then CEO and Board Chair of the Chicago Housing Authority, the nation’s third-largest housing authority, where he led day-to-day operations, oversaw a budget of $1.4 billion, and championed a resident-first approach to governance impacting more than 135,000 residents across the city.

In addition to his work as a nationally recognized trial lawyer, Matt is a small-business owner and entrepreneur. Along with his mom and brother, Matt founded and owns Grasshopper Club, Chicago’s first and only Black-owned cannabis dispensary — a reflection of his commitment to building businesses that expand access and create opportunity in emerging industries. Matt is also a co-owner of The Wiener’s Circle, an iconic Chicago hot dog stand.

Across his work in business and public service, Matt has been guided by a belief that opportunities can change trajectories — and often mark the difference between getting ahead and falling behind. He is running for mayor to build a city that is growing and working for all Chicagoans.