Jonathan T.M. Reckford is Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity International, an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that, since 1976, has helped more than 5 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes in more than 70 countries.
Habitat’s 1,450 US affiliates and more than 70 country programs served more than 300,000 families in fiscal year 2014—up from 25,000 families served annually a decade ago.
Reckford graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar. He was also the recipient of a Henry Luce Scholarship, which enabled him to do marketing work for the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee and coach the Korean rowing team in preparation for the 1988 Olympics.
He earned his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business before spending much of his career in the for-profit sector, including executive and managerial positions at Goldman Sachs, Marriott, the Walt Disney Co., and Best Buy. Following his tenure as executive pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church near Minneapolis, Minn., he was appointed CEO of HFHI in 2005.
He serves on the boards of InterAction, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Duke Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Urban Steering Committee for the World Economic Forum.
The author of a book titled Creating a Habitat for Humanity: No Hands but Yours, he and his wife, Ashley, have three children and live in Atlanta.