Clayton K. Harris III, Member

Clayton Harris III is Lyft’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for the Central United States where he is focused on policy, government relations, political outreach, policy recommendations and strategy in one of the technology company's most critical markets.

Clayton transitioned to Lyft from the Illinois International Port District (IIPD) as the Executive Director where he led the IIPD to an unprecedented resurgence and was able to reduce debt over 60% and increase revenue more than 22% in four short years, truly transforming the IIPD into the Greatest Multimodal Port in North America.

Clayton was formerly Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, General Counsel for the Chicago Department of Transportation, Chief of Staff for the Illinois Department of Transportation, Deputy Chief of Staff, over infrastructure, for the State of Illinois, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Illinois and previously the Director of Government Affairs for the Midwest United States for CH2M HILL, a global engineering design/build consulting firm.

Clayton received his Bachelor of Science, in Aerospace Technology, from Middle Tennessee State University and, while working at the Pentagon in Combat Systems Engineering in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization earned his Juris Doctorate from Howard University’s School of law.

Clayton recently earned his Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy where he has been lecturing for the last twelve years. Clayton currently teaches Process and Policy in State and Local Government where his students learn the process in crafting “good” public policy.  And, most recently, as a sign of the times, Clayton was asked by the University and began lecturing on Policing Race in America: Black, White & Blue where his students address policing the Black body in America and how we arrived from 1619 to the point where police are still killing Black men in the streets in 2021.

Clayton grew up a military brat and currently resides on the southside of Chicago with his wife and two sons.