Reverend Julius Walls, Jr. is a respected leader, preacher, teacher, and speaker whose ministry spans the church, nonprofit sector, business, and higher education. He is an ordained minister, nonprofit executive, businessman, and real estate developer. In 2021, Reverend Walls was elected Chief Operating Officer of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a role in which he continues to serve with distinction.
As Chief Operating Officer, Reverend Walls has led significant organizational transformation across the denomination. His leadership has resulted in increased revenue and improved expense management relative to revenue at the A.M.E. Zion Publishing House, which he oversees. He has also established new departments focused on Fundraising and Community Development, efforts that have generated millions of dollars in additional external revenue for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. In addition, he has implemented programs that provide training and grant support for pastors, equipped churches in fundraising and community development practices, and strengthened in-house operational functions that support the work of the Connectional officers.
In pastoral ministry, Reverend Walls currently serves as pastor of Institutional A.M.E. Zion Church in Yonkers, to which he was appointed in June 2025. Under his leadership, the congregation is experiencing renewed spiritual vitality and growth. Previously, he pastored Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Yonkers, where attendance doubled and the church budget tripled. He also served as pastor of Greater Hood Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Harlem, where both membership and budget tripled during his tenure. In addition, Reverend Walls has served as Chief of Staff of Greater Centennial A.M.E. Zion Church, a 6,000-member congregation, and as President of Greater Centennial Community Development Corporation, overseeing the strategic and operational direction of the 501(c)(3) organization that has developed affordable housing and homeownership opportunities in Mount Vernon, New York.
Beyond the local church, Reverend Walls has built a distinguished career in business, real estate development, academia, and social innovation. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Greyston Bakery, a $7 million social enterprise, and as Senior Vice President of the Greyston Foundation, a $13 million social services and real estate development organization. He also held the role of Vice President of Operations for a $23 million chocolate manufacturing company. In academia, he has served as an adjunct professor in graduate business programs at New York University, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and Eastern University. He is a published author and serves on multiple local and national nonprofit and government boards.
Reverend Walls has taught, preached, and spoken extensively across the United States on social enterprise, social purpose business, social justice and business, spirituality in the workplace, and inner-city business development. He has built and advised businesses, coached executives, mentored students, and inspired thousands to pursue excellence and purpose. His work includes developing life skills programs, advancing affordable housing and homeownership initiatives, and leading strategic planning efforts that have strengthened organizations. Through his leadership, he has met with Presidents Clinton and Obama and has spoken at universities across the nation, including Ivy League institutions.
Reverend Walls is co-author of *MISSION, INC.: The Practitioner’s Guide to Social Enterprise* published in 2008. He was an invited participant in the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Session on Transforming Cities Through Civic Entrepreneurs at Harvard University during 2008 and 2009. In 2009, he was named the first Social Entrepreneur in Residence at New York University. In both 2009 and 2012, he was recognized as one of the Ten Most Influential Blacks in Westchester by the African American Chamber of Commerce.
At the core of Reverend Walls’ life and vocation are his spiritual discipline, family, and commitment to service, values first nurtured by his parents in his native Brooklyn, New York. He has been married to his college sweetheart for nearly forty years, and they are the proud parents of three children. Reverend Walls encourages people to bring their whole selves into every sphere of life, including their cultural and spiritual identities. His seminal sermon, *Are You Christian on Monday?*, challenges both Christians and non-Christians to live out their faith authentically in everyday life.
