On a mission at Habitat for Humanity of Broward
Jeremy Montgomery is the chief operating officer of Habitat for Humanity of Broward, in Fort Lauderdale. Professional experiences have helped to shape his passions, he says. Montgomery is an ordained minister, and in his early career he did gang intervention in the Boston Public Schools, supported by a federal community block grant under the Boston Police Department.
The first Habitat for Humanity home that he visited for a dedication ceremony was in Nyanza, Burundi, a small African country just south of Rwanda, for a family who returned from a refugee camp where they lived for over seven years after the Rwandan genocide. He fell in love with Habitat’s mission in that instant, he says.
Montgomery was raised in a foster home and lived with over 100 brothers and sisters. It’s this childhood context, he says, that helps him to easily relate to all types of people, and to thrive in the midst of constant change and challenging situations.
Resume
Experience: World Relief, Baltimore, Md., Northeast Director of Church Relations; First Baptist Church of Westfield, N.J., Associate Minister; Boston TenPoint Coalition, Youth & Outreach Director
Education: M.B.A., Eastern University, St. David’s, Pa.; M.A., Urban Ministries, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Boston, Mass.; B.S., Urban Ministries, North Central University, Minneapolis, Minn.
On the job
Skills for new challenges: Building organizational capacity and exponentially growing an affiliate in New Jersey allows me to bring in-depth knowledge and expertise in all operational aspects at Habitat Broward, including ReStore, construction, property acquisition, financial management, and mortgage compliance.
On my plate now: Overseeing completion of a 77-home subdivision in Pompano Beach, as well as explore opening additional ReStores. Last year, Habitat Broward's ReStore was third-highest profitable store among the 898 stores in U.S.
Why my job is important: The role of COO is new to this organization and it’s a bold step. Our ReStore in Fort Lauderdale is one of the nation’s most successful stores, and it fuels our local home building activities — and my position seeks to exploit its revenue opportunities to strengthen our impact.