2023 Affordable Housing Summit
Join us for our 2023 Affordable Housing Summit on August 30, 2023. We believe homeownership is a key component of building wealth and creating stability for families. This Summit is one way to amplify the importance of addressing the affordable housing crisis and our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
Event Details
Affordable Housing Summit – Perspectives to Address the Crisis at the Local, Federal, and Global Levels.
Speakers: Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International
Senator Chris Coons
Dr. Andre M. Perry, Author of “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities”
Schlonn Hawkins, CEO & Publisher, Shelterforce Magazine
Date: August 30, 2023 | Time: 5 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: University of Delaware-Clayton Hall
Click here to register.
Contact kbarber@habitatncc.org for more information.
Thank you to our Premier Sponsor
The DuPont Oval Logo is a trademark of affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
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Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County is proud to announce the Affordable Housing Summit which aims to tackle the pressing issue of affordable housing.
The Summit will bring together experts from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to discuss strategies for affordable housing development and financing. This is part of Habitat NCC’s ongoing commitment to finding solutions to the affordable housing crisis, and we are excited to collaborate with other leaders in the community to make a positive impact.
The Summit includes a dynamic panel of speakers moderated by Kevin Smith, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County. Attendees will also hear from Schlonn Hawkins, CEO & Publisher of Shelterforce, a publication covering the worlds of community development, affordable housing, and neighborhood stabilization.
Guest Speaker
Jonathan Reckford
Jonathan T.M. Reckford is chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International, a global Christian housing organization that has helped more than 46 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve their homes.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar, Jonathan worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. 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 Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business before spending the first part of his career in the for-profit sector, including executive and managerial positions at Marriott, The Walt Disney Co., and Best Buy. While serving as executive pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church near Minneapolis, Minn., he was recruited for the CEO position at Habitat.
Since 2005, when he took the top leadership position, local Habitat organizations in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries have grown from serving 125,000 individuals each year to helping more than 7.1 million people last year build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
Jonathan is the chair of Leadership 18, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Global Future Council on the Future of Cities for the World Economic Forum, and a board member of Data Axle and the Barron Collier Companies.
Named the most influential nonprofit leader in America in 2017 by The NonProfit Times, Jonathan is the author of Our Better Angels: Seven Simple Virtues That Will Change Your Life and the World.
Guest Speaker
Sen. Chris Coons
Chris Coons was elected to the United States Senate in 2010 following terms as New Castle County Council President and New Castle County Executive. In the Senate, he sits on the Appropriations, Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics Committees.
Chris grew up attending Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE, and was an ordained elder with West Presbyterian Church. He continues to preach regularly at houses of worship across Delaware. In February 2019, he and Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma co-chaired the 67th annual National Prayer Breakfast, a tradition dating back to President Eisenhower that brings Americans of all backgrounds, faiths, and political parties together through a celebration of spirituality and prayer. Chris regularly participates in the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast.
Before entering government, Chris worked as an attorney for W.L. Gore & Associates, an advanced materials manufacturer in Delaware. As a law student, Chris founded the Delaware chapter of the national “I Have a Dream” Foundation, which helps low-income students make the academic journey from elementary school through college. Shortly after receiving his law degree and clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Chris began working at the organization’s national office, where he launched and ran its AmeriCorps program in fifteen cities.
Chris graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in chemistry and political science, and earned a law degree from Yale Law School and a Master’s in Ethics from Yale Divinity School. A longtime New Castle County resident, Chris lives in Wilmington with his wife, Annie, and their three children, Michael, Jack, and Maggie
Guest Speaker
Dr. Andre M. Perry
Dr. Andre M. Perry is a Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro, a scholar-in-residence at American University, and a professor of practice of economics at Washington University. A nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education, Perry is the author of the book “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities,” which is currently available wherever books are sold. Perry is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has been published by numerous national media outlets, including The New York Times, The Nation, The Washington Post, TheRoot.com and CNN.com. Perry has also made appearances on HBO, CNN, PBS, National Public Radio, NBC, and ABC. Perry’s research focuses on race and structural inequality, education, and economic inclusion. Perry’s recent scholarship at Brookings has analyzed Black-majority cities and institutions in America, focusing on valuable assets worthy of increased investment.
Perry’s pioneering work on asset devaluation has made him a go to researcher for policymakers, community development professionals and civil rights groups. Perry co-authored the groundbreaking 2018 Brookings Institution report “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods” and has presented its findings on the price of home in Black neighborhoods across the country, including to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. He has extended that report’s focus on housing in Black neighborhoods to include other assets such as businesses, schools and banks.
Prior to his work at Brookings, Perry has been a founding dean, professor, award-winning journalist, and activist in the field of education. In 2013, Perry founded the College of Urban Education at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Preceding his stint in Michigan, Perry was an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of New Orleans and served as CEO of the Capital One-University of New Orleans Charter Network. In 2015, Perry served on Louisiana Governor-elect John Bel Edwards’ K-12 education transition committee, as well as on New Orleans Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu’s transition team as its co-chair for education in 2010.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Perry earned his Ph.D. in education policy and leadership from the University of Maryland College Park.