Jonathan Reckford is an inspirational speaker, leadership expert, author, award-winning activist, and CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. In 2017, he was named the most influential nonprofit leader in America by The NonProfit Times. Under his leadership, Habitat for Humanity won the 2020 Golden Halo Award nonprofit winner by Engage for Good, which honors causes that do well by doing good.
Since taking over the leadership of the global Christian housing organization in 2005, Habitat for Humanity has grown from serving 125,000 individuals per year to more than 4.2 million.
The non-profit organization has helped over 35 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve their homes.
Over his career, Jonathan has held various leadership positions with several Fortune 500 organizations, including Marriott, Best Buy, and Disney. He also served as the executive pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Minnesota before being recruited as CEO for Habitat for Humanity.
Jonathan is the author of two books: Creating a Habitat for Humanity: No Hands But Yours (2007) and Our Better Angels: Seven Simple Virtues That Will Change Your Life and the World (2019).
Jonathan lends his expertise to various boards. He chairs Leadership 18 and is a member of the Freddie Mac Housing Advisory Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Urban Steering Committee for the World Economic Forum.
Jonathan graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a BA in Political Science where he was a Morehead Scholar and a recipient of a Henry Luce Scholarship. He earned his MBA degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
