Brian Fikkert
Links:
Author, Founder and Executive Director | The Chalmers Center
Bio:
Dr. Brian Fikkert is the founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, a research and training center that is dedicated to helping churches and missionaries to declare the kingdom of God by bringing economic development and spiritual transformation to the poor.
Brian also serves as a professor of economics and community development at Covenant College. Brian received a Ph.D. in economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in mathematics from Dordt College. Specializing in Economic Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.
He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has recently co-authored the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself (Moody Publishers). Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector.
He, his wife Jill, and their three children live in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he is an active member of New City Fellowship Presbyterian Church (PCA).
We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, but according to research, we aren’t becoming happier. Families and communities are increasingly fragmented, loneliness is skyrocketing, and physical and mental health are on the decline. Our unprecedented wealth doesn’t seem to be doing us much good.