John Hecklinger drives social change by helping effective community-led organizations around the world connect with the resources they need to empower children and youth to reach their full potential. He is an expert in fixing broken systems and in adaptive leadership through complexity, conflict, and change. John also has extensive knowledge about how the nonprofit sector operates, including who’s who, trends, and hot topics. He has been interviewed, spoken at conferences, and written articles on shifting power to local communities, sparking social change in complex systems, and disrupting the way philanthropy gets done, among other topics. Most recently, John has led GFC’s efforts to help grassroots organizations support children and youth during the coronavirus pandemic.

John joined GFC in 2017 after more than two decades in global philanthropy and the private sector. Prior to joining GFC, he served in a series of roles at GlobalGiving, driving the growth of the world’s first crowdfunding marketplace for global causes. John previously led partnership efforts at CARFAX Vehicle History Reports and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bangui, Central African Republic. He holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia.