Jonathan T. M. Reckford is an American businessman and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Habitat for Humanity International Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. Non-governmental organization, non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization whic ...

. In 2017, ''

The NonProfit Times ''The NonProfit Times'' (NPT) is a newspaper based in Morris Plains, New Jersey, covering the business management of non-profit organizations in the United States. The first issue was published in April 1987. The newspaper covers fundraising, ...

'' named him the most influential nonprofit leader in America.

Early life

Reckford grew up in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

. He is the grandson of former New Jersey congresswoman Millicent Fenwick. He attended the St. Paul's School in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. He was awarded a Morehead Scholarship to attend the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, where he graduated with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1984. In 1984, he joined

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, then was awarded the

Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...

Foundation Scholarship for Young American Leaders. With that, he traveled to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

to work with the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee on marketing sponsorships. He also coached the Korean national rowing team. He graduated in 1989 from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

with a master's degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. At Stanford he was struck by a professor's admonition that the same skills that will make you a success in the for-profit world also are desperately needed in the not-for-profit world.

Career

Reckford started his career in finance, working for Goldman Sachs. He also was an executive with Marriott, president of stores for the

Musicland The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the ...

division of

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

, senior vice president of corporate planning and communications for

Circuit City Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered th ...

, and director of strategic planning at

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. Reckford then became executive pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( , ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous ci ...

. He became CEO of

in 2005. He is the author of ''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).

Professional affiliations

Reckford serves on the board of InterAction, the

, the

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (informally the Atlanta Fed and the Bank), is the sixth district of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States and is headquartered in midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Fed covers the U.S. state ...

, and the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Fuqua School Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE). He is also a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

and the Urban Steering Committee for the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Personal life

Reckford and his wife, Ashley, have three children and live in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

References

External links

Chief Executive Officer profile
at Habitat for Humanity {{DEFAULTSORT:Reckford, Jonathan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American nonprofit chief executives Habitat for Humanity people