John Perkins Center

for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development

John Perkins

Founded in 2004, the John Perkins Center is a first-of-its-kind partnership between the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation of Jackson, Mississippi and Seattle Pacific University. As a center that seeks to live into the legacy of reconciliation and community development from Dr. John Perkins, he has described it as “the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”

For the 18th Annual Perkins Lecture Series on April 23, we welcome Rev. Sandra Van Opstal.

The Perkins Center’s academic partnerships include the Urban Studies minor, Global and Urban Ministry minor, and the annual Perkins Center Prize.

Students learn and practice principles of community development through their experiences with community engagement and transformative partnerships.

John M. Perkins

Meet John. M. Perkins

Meet the reconciliation advocate and evangelical civil rights leader behind the Perkins Center at SPU.