Harry Hook - Building a Lifelong Legacy in Community Service

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Harvey Hook is a visionary, connector, collaborator, community advocate, and builder. His purpose in life is to create opportunities for people and communities to thrive. These qualities contribute to his success as a catalytic leader in founding several leading-edge nonprofit entities and successful programs which remain vibrant today.
Harvey is the Chief Engagement Officer for Vista Village, Inc., an innovative nonprofit in Columbus, Ohio, which serves homeless individuals in a tiny home community setting. Vista Village works with community partners and volunteers, to provide comprehensive wraparound services for men and women, as they transition from homelessness to help, wholeness, employment, and then to independent living in the broader community.
Prior to joining Vista Village, Harvey co-founded Convene Columbus, a collaborative entity of multi-ethnic leaders, to address issues of racial injustice. In 2015, he launched Rela Leadership to equip next generation leaders with best practice servant leadership principles. In 1988, he founded The Gathering/Columbus to offer guidance to business, professional, and government leaders, on moral, spiritual, and leadership decisions, which impact the community. In 1981, following four years as Chaplain of Denver Juvenile Hall, Harvey moved to Columbus as one of three founding members of Central Ohio Youth for Christ, which maintains a vital role in assisting youth in poor and underserved neighborhoods.
Beyond his nonprofit roles, Harvey was the inaugural Chair of the Central Ohio BBB Integrity Awards Selection Committee; Member, Mayor Michael Coleman’s Interfaith Religious Advisory Committee; Founder, Columbus Leadership Forum; Founder, Columbus Leadership Prayer Breakfast; Chair, Invitation Committee, Greater Columbus Billy Graham Crusade; Convener, “Poverty, Race, and Urban Renewal” with Dr. John Perkins, Dr. Tony Evans, and Dr. Myles Munroe; Convener, “Poverty and Community Development” with St. Stephen’s Community Center, Urban Concern, and the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; and Co-Convener, Ex-Offender Reentry Roundtable with Gov. George Voinovich, Reginald Wilkinson, Dir., Ohio Dept. of Corrections, and Charles Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship.
Born in Lincoln, Maine, the youngest of three boys, sons of a lumberjack and seamstress, he has lived in New York, Colorado, and Ohio. Harvey has a degree in Psychology, from the State University of New York at Albany, a master’s degree in Counseling from Denver Seminary, has spent seven months of his life loving and being loved by children in the Dominican Republic, and is author of the book, “The Power of an Ordinary Life.” He is married to his wife Rita and together they have two beautiful married daughters, and five awesome grandchildren!

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