JR Kerr

JR’s enduring belief in the goodness of humanity, the need for compelling stories, and the reality that nothing gets done alone, led him to create Handshake in 2014.

Previously an advisor to the White House Office for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships under former President Obama, Kerr served as the director of programming and curation for Chicago Ideas Week and worked with influencers and organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, One Campaign, World Economic Forum, and UN Office for Partnerships and helped to launch Goal 17 Partners, a non-profit organization that works with private sector leaders, non-profit organizations, and governments to integrate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into business models and practices.

His career began in education and leadership, teaching classical studies and serving in a number of roles focused on the development of student leaders on college campuses. With master’s degrees in theology and cultural studies, JR worked in faith-based organizations focused on bringing justice and mercy to a world in need of both. He spent his weekends speaking to thousands of people about how the world must be made better and then spent the week working to make it so.

JR’s background and drive to be a leader in global impact was uniquely shaped by his relationship to his grandmother, a seamstress and shop owner, who immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua during WWII. He has launched various not-for-profits and social enterprises, among them, Traffik Free, a nonprofit to fight human trafficking in Chicago.

Any free time JR has is spent with his four kids and playing tennis.