MIT Grad and JRF Class of 1996, Global Consultant Keith Bevans Remains Connected

It’s safe to say that JRF Alumnus and MIT graduate Keith Bevans ’95 is a wunderkind. As a kid, he was an electronics whiz tinkering with computers and circuits and completed two internships at Bell Labs before graduating from high school.

“It was neat to have that opportunity because it set the direction for what I wanted to do in college which was engineering and building on the experiences I had,” said Bevans.

Keith earned a Bachelor of Science and graduated with a Master of Engineering degree in electrical engineering at MIT in ’96. Upon graduation Bevans joined Bain & Co., a global management-consulting firm, as an associate consultant. He stayed at Bain for four years and was promoted to a consultant before taking leave to attend Harvard Business School, where he received an MBA with distinction.

Currently a partner in Bain & Company’s Chicago office where he serves as Executive Vice President of Global Consultant Recruiting, Bevans is responsible for identifying and attracting new employees. Celebrating his 25-year career at Bain, he was one of the first Black consultants to be promoted to partner in 2008. His diverse set of global clients includes healthcare providers, manufacturers, retailers. and airlines.

He hosts Bain’s Beyond the Bio podcast, is a highly sought after thought leader in the world of undergrad and grad-level recruiting, chairs the Board of The Ancona School in Chicago, and has a passion for photography.

Bevans recently reflected on his JRF collegiate experience.

“The coolest part for me was seeing the community of other talented Black and LatinX scholars coming together every year for the Networking Weekend. The highlight for me was always the family session,” said Bevans, adding, “There may have been 100 people there but when you’re 19 baring your soul in front of the group it felt like 10,000. One-by-one, however long it took, people would get up and stand next to Rachel and give her a hug and tell her how their year had gone. There would be smiles, and clapping, and crying, and a lot of emotions in the room. It would go on for hours because Rachel wanted to know what all her kids were doing.”

Being either a mentor or a mentee has always been a part of the process for Bevans from his days as a JRF Scholar and over the arc of his professional career.

“You look up one day and realize that you’re the upper classman and I remember thinking at the first networking weekend, you see the seniors, they all know each other, they’ve all met each other, and they’ve seen each other at least once a year for three years,” said Bevans, reflecting back on his days as a JRF Scholar, “At some point you realize, I’m the old one in the room. I’m the one who has wisdom and experience and war stories to tell about the lowly lows and the highest highs of college and share that information with the next generation coming behind us and that’s where the benefit and the support of the Foundation matters a lot as students because you are part of a community that’s there to support you when you need it.”

Bevans was the first recipient of the Martin L. Edelman Award in 2018. The award is presented to a JRF alumnus who has distinguished themselves in three areas: professional achievement, service to society, and engagement with the Jackie Robinson Foundation. In his acceptance speech Bevans directed his comments toward the JRF Scholars in attendance:

“To the JRF Scholars, I want to offer a few words of advice: expect the same excellence of yourselves that the Foundation expects from you,” said Bevans. Nearly 30 years after graduating from MIT Bevans still feels grateful and connected to the Foundation.

“Not all of us are used to asking for help. The Jackie Robinson Foundation attracts the best and the brightest, and those tend not to be the ones [who] have struggled or have had to ask for help academically,” recalls Bevans, adding, “College is different than high school. College challenges students in ways that high school doesn’t and knowing that you have a safe place to share with people about your struggles and hopefully get some advice, was huge and having the Foundation play that role was awesome.”