Dr Rick Franklin was born in the US. He holds four post-secondary degrees, including a BA in communication studies, MDiv in pastoral care and counseling, ThM in systematic theology and a PhD in organizational leadership.
Rick and his wife have served in full-time ministry for nearly four decades, including as missionaries for 10 years in the Czech Republic, one year in Hungary (under communism) and the past 12 years in Canada. Rick has held a number of executive leadership roles with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, Int’l.) in the US, Eastern Europe and Canada. Following his time at Cru, he served as vice president of growth and development with Arrow Leadership Ministries.
Together with the LLJ Core Team, Rick helped develop and launch the Lausanne Leadership Journey (LLJ) in 2023, and has served as chair of the Global Selection Team for the Younger Leaders Generation (YLGen) since 2019. He joined Lausanne full-time as the Global Director of Strategy and Operations in 2024.
Rick is married to his high school sweetheart, Dana. Together they have four adult children, two of whom are married, and two grandchildren.