John M. Perkins was born into Mississippi poverty, the son of a sharecropper. His mother died of starvation seven months after he was born in 1930 in New Hebron, Mississippi, and at 17 years old he fled to California after his older brother was murdered by the town marshal. Although he vowed never to return, Perkins returned with his wife Vera Mae and their young family to Mississippi in 1960, eager to share the gospel of Christ with those still living in the region. His outspoken support and leadership role in civil rights demonstrations resulted in repeated harassment, imprisonment, and beatings. Today, Dr. Perkins is president of John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development of Jackson, Mississippi. He is one of the leading evangelical voices to come out of the American civil rights movement, and he is an internationally known author, speaker, and teacher on issues of racial reconciliation and Christian community development. Despite dropping out of school in the third grade, Dr. Perkins has received ten honorary doctorates and is the author of nine books including A Quiet Revolution, Let Justice Roll Down, With Justice For All, Beyond Charity, He’s My Brother, Resurrecting Hope, and A Time to Heal. He has served on the board of directors of World Vision, Prison Fellowship, National Association of Evangelicals, Spring Arbor University, and 15 other boards. In 2004, Perkins partnered with Seattle Pacific University to launch the campus-based John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development, which is a first-of-its-kind partnership and what Dr. Perkins describes as “the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”