Chris Rice is an award-winning writer, social entrepreneur, and global networker dedicated to fostering social healing and spiritual renewal, grounded in his Christian faith. From grassroots community development and racial healing work in Mississippi, to peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula, to global advocacy at the United Nations, Chris has dedicated his life to pursuing positive change with leaders and organizations across the world. He co-founded the influential Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation and transformative faith-based peacemaking initiatives in East Africa, Northeast Asia, and New York City. His work, writing, and four books, including Reconciling All Things and From Pandemic to Renewal, have inspired tens of thousands of readers and leaders to meaningful action for a more just and peaceful world. Chris’s deep belief is that the difficult challenges of our time can become holy ground for social renewal and spiritual transformation.

Chris is co-founder of the African Great Lakes Initiative, the Christian Forum for Reconciliation in Northeast Asia, and the Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation. For five years Chris guided peacemaking work on both sides of the divide between North Korea and South Korea through Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), an international relief, development, and peace organization working in over forty countries. He also served five years as Director of MCC’s United Nations Office in New York City, leading global advocacy efforts on peacebuilding from the Korean Peninsula to Palestine-Israel, and serving on the Steering Group of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council. Earlier in life he spent 17 years in Jackson, Mississippi with Voice of Calvary, a pioneer in multi-racial, church-based Christian community development.

Chris received the Seoul Foreign School Outstanding Alumni Award and the Belhaven College Distinguished Service to Mankind Award. He has Master of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity degrees from Duke University and is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Chris and his wife Donna live in New York City, and Donna has served a long career in nursing. They have three adult children and one granddaughter. Chris is passionate about the music he loves, the “beautiful game,” spy novels, and finding joy in the great outdoors.

To contact Chris about a speaking, consulting, or writing query or invitation, click below.