News Release

Habitat for Humanity International CEO,
UNC alumnus to speak on Friday (April 7)

CHAPEL HILL – Jonathan T.M. Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International, will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Friday (April 7).

Reckford, a UNC alumnus, will speak on "The Next Generation in Social Entrepreneurship" at noon in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union’s Great Hall. The event is free to the public and is sponsored by the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative (CEI) and the UNC Student-Chapel of the Cross Habitat Partnership.

Reckford also will speak at the dedication later that day of a Habitat for Humanity home sponsored by UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Nearly 300 students, faculty, staff and alumni volunteered in the building process. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County has built more than 140 homes in the past 20 years for Orange County families in need.

Steve Jones, dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler, and Susan Levy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, also will participate in the ceremony.

At his noon lecture, Reckford will talk about a career path that has included diverse roles such as Wall Street investment banker, corporate executive, church minister and, ultimately, head of the international nonprofit housing organization. He will also discuss how business skills can be used to advance social change.

A North Carolina native, Reckford earned his undergraduate degree in political science from UNC. He later earned a master of business administration degree, with a certificate in public and nonprofit management, from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Reckford began his career as a financial analyst for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York (1984-1986), but said he felt compelled to move in a direction that would serve people in need. Reckford’s parents had been active in the civil rights struggle in North Carolina. His grandmother, the late New Jersey congresswoman Millicent Fenwick, was widely known for her commitment to issues of justice.

Reckford applied for and won a Henry Luce Scholarship, a program designed to give future leaders the opportunity to live and work in Asia. As a Luce Scholar, he worked for the Olympic Organizing Committee, preparing for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.

Following that experience and a three-month journey through Southeast Asia, Reckford returned to the United States to pursue his MBA degree. After holding management positions in several U.S. corporations, he turned a volunteer ministry into full-time work in 2003, becoming executive pastor at the 4,300-member Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn. In August 2005, Reckford was unanimously elected chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International.

For more information on the lecture, contact CEI internship director Amon Anderson at (919) 843-8824 or amona@email.unc.edu.

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Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative contact: Amon Anderson, (919) 843-8824

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu