Richard Stearns is a business executive that is a past president of

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...

and Lenox, Inc., and of

World Vision United States World Vision United States is a member and founding organization of World Vision International. Founded in the United States in 1950, it is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour J ...

, an international

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

relief

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

Early life and education

Stearns earned a bachelor's degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he joined the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

fraternity and studied neurobiology, and an MBA from the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

at the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

Stearn's professional career began in marketing with the

Gillette Company Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gill ...

in Boston. From 1977 to 1985, he held various roles with

, culminating in his appointment as president in 1984. In 1985, he became a vice president at The

Franklin Mint The Franklin Mint is a private mint founded by Joseph Segel in 1964 in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The building is in Middletown Township. The brand name was previously owned by Sequential Brands Group headquartered in New York City, New York. It is ...

. He joined Lenox in 1987 as president of Lenox Collections, and was named president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Lenox, Inc. in 1995, overseeing three divisions, six manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees, and $500 million in annual sales. In June 1998 Stearns left Lenox to became president of the not-for-profit international relief agency,

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Inc., based in

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fe ...

. As president of World Vision, Stearns was responsible for U.S. operations, which included advocacy, fundraising, and program development, and prioritized the organization's worldwide attention on the

AIDS crisis The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...

. Stearns led World Vision from 1998 to 2018.

Perspectives at World Vision

While Stearns believes that individual Christians and churches have a responsibility to take action to alleviate global poverty, he discouraged unilateral action in which churches launch their own programs around the world. Stearns has argued that churches "think we can somehow tackle lobal povertyusing only amateurs and volunteers." He noted that churches hire expert consultants to assist them in managing their local congregations like successful businesses: music, accounting, audiovisual support, counseling, and building construction. He asked, shouldn't Christians do the same to assist with realizing their global mission, which involves them in "tackling complicated problems halfway around the world"? Stearns stated that solving poverty is an incredibly complex problem that it is more like rocket science in its difficulty than people realize. Stearns and the World Vision Board made a decision in 2014 to no longer prohibit employment of members of same sex marriages, and after criticism by

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

leader

Albert Mohler Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born October 19, 1959) is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast ''The Briefing'', where he daily analyzes ...

, the policy decision at World Vision was reversed.

Publications

Stearns has written op-eds on global poverty and AIDS for major U.S. newspapers and magazines, and has appeared on CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and PBS. Examples include his op-eds ''Evangelicals and the Case for Foreign Aid'' in

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, and ''The Face of America Should Meet the Face of Poverty'' in the

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

. Stearns published the book ''Lead Like it Matters to God,'' with

InterVarsity Press Founded in 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) is an American publisher of Christian books located in Westmont, Illinois. IVP focuses on publishing Christian books that speak to important cultural moments, provide tools for spiritual growth, and e ...

in March 2021. In it, Stearns says, among other things, that "success is overrated," and describes 17 "crucial values that can transform leaders and their organizations."

References

External links