Our Better Angels

Jonathan Reckford has served as chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International since 2005. Under his leadership, Habitat has gone from helping 125,000 individuals annually to more than 8.7 million people last year alone build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Reckford earned his MBA from Stanford and went on to managerial positions at Goldman Sachs, Marriott, Walt Disney Company, and Best Buy. Reckford also served as executive pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minnesota. In 2017, Reckford was named Influencer of the Year by the Nonprofit Times.

Jimmy Carter, our thirty-ninth president, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He is the author of numerous bestsellers, including White House Diary, An Hour Before Daylight and Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. Carter grew up on a peanut farm in Plains, Georgia. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946, and after seven years of service in the Navy, he returned to Georgia and entered state politics, becoming governor in 1971. In 1976, he was elected President of the United States.  Carter aspired to make government “competent and compassionate,” and fought for human rights around the world. His successes include the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the Panama Canal treaties, and establishing full diplomatic relations with China.  After leaving office, he and his wife Rosalynn created the Carter Center, a nonpartisan organization working to advance human rights and democracy, resolve conflicts, and relieve suffering from disease and hunger around the world. The Carters live in Plains, Georgia, but continue to travel around the world in support of numerous philanthropic efforts.

Robert Petkoff has won multiple AudioFile Earphones awards for his acclaimed narrations. He was named Best Voice of Fiction & Classics for his reading of The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale. His other narration credits include Oath of Office by Michael Palmer, Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman, and books by David Foster Wallace.Petkoff has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in theaters across America and Europe.  He has worked in television and film. His theater credits include Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in the Broadway production of Anything Goes, Perchik as part of the Tony-nomianted cast of Fiddler on the Roof, and Hubert Humphrey in the Tony award-winning play All the Way. He has also had numerous roles in television on shows such as Law and Order and Married with Children.