Habitat for Humanity International’s Jacqueline Innocent advances to senior vice president role overseeing integrated programs

“To continue our mission to tackle the global housing deficit, we must continue to embrace innovative thinking and evolve to meet the complexity and the scale of the challenge before us,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “Jacqueline has been a key leader and trusted adviser for the Habitat community during the enormously tumultuous pandemic. I have every confidence that through her strategic leadership, Habitat will increase global capacity and deliver measurable and enduring impact across the housing spectrum. I look forward to relying on her leadership and partnership as part of our senior management team.” 

Innocent joined Habitat for Humanity International in 2019 as the head of Habitat’s global volunteering programs, providing strategic leadership for international volunteer programs, oversight of Habitat’s national AmeriCorps and Vista programs and leading the team responsible for generating revenue for volunteer programing. Prior to joining Habitat, she worked at the Points of Light Foundation as vice president of programs and recognition, served as senior director of community initiatives at the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site as director of operations. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Duke University School of Law.

A dual citizen of the United States and Barbados, Innocent credits her passion for Habitat’s global mission to her own first-generation American story. Her parents’ emphasis on the stabilizing force of homeownership developed her deeply personal connection to supporting housing opportunities.

“As we apply lessons learned during the past year and move into a post-pandemic world, Habitat’s investment in programmatic excellence will increase our capacity to serve and advocate for vulnerable communities worldwide,” Innocent said. “Habitat’s mission is more critical now than it has ever been and the creation of this role underscores the organization’s commitment to innovating and advancing safe and decent housing for families around the world.”

Habitat will also welcome Chris Herink as vice president of program effectiveness in May. In this role, Herink will lead Habitat’s efforts to define, measure, document and communicate the organization’s impact across all country programs. He will also oversee the technical leads for Habitat’s disaster risk reduction and response team; the water, sanitation and hygiene team; urban approach; global measurement evaluation and learning; and safeguarding. Herink earned his bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and his master’s degree from Harvard University. In this role, Herink will serve on the organization’s senior leadership and operations leadership teams and will report to Innocent.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in south Georgia. Since its founding in 1976, the Christian housing organization has grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.