Airplane Crash Kills 11 Volunteers; Their Legacy Lives On In Guatemala

John Porter will never forget the call ten years ago. With some of the key members of his team on a service mission with CHOICE Humanitarian to Guatemala, a survivor called to say the plane had crashed killing ten people, most John’s employees.

Chris Johnson and his wife Liz had devoted themselves to helping those living in extreme poverty to successfully build a path to a brighter future through CHOICE. Liz had taken time off to focus on their small children before getting back into the field on that fateful trip. She survived the crash but succumbed to her injuries while being treated in Guatemala city.

Faced with excruciating decisions about how to move forward, Chris remained at CHOICE. John rebuilt his team and grew his company while continuing to support service. CHOICE continued its work in Guatemala. Ten years on, the community has been dramatically reshaped, with improved literacy and job training, including IT training in the Central American jungle.

Everyone involved committed to making the work and its impact on the people Liz and the others served the living memorial to those who died.

Interview with Christopher Johnson, the Director of Economic Development of CHOICE Humanitarian.

The following is the pre-interview with Christopher Johnson. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above.

What is the problem you solve and how do you solve it?

We work with rural communities around the globe ending extreme poverty. We do this through an applied approach to local leadership skill building in problem-solving, consensus building, gender equality, results-based management, networking and sustainability. The end result is a community capable of eliminating it’s own extreme poverty and creating a quality of life for its citizens that celebrates its unique culture, values and dreams while offering improved access to health, education, sanitation and economic growth.

More about CHOICE Humanitarian:

Twitter: @CHOICEorg

Facebook: facebook.com/CHOICEorg

Website: https://www.choicehumanitarian.org/

CHOICE Humanitarian is a non-government organization working with rural communities of developing countries to develop sustainable strategies for eliminating extreme poverty in their own communities and in the surrounding area.

For-profit/Nonprofit: 501(c)3 Nonprofit

Revenue model:

CHOICE generates resources in the following ways:

• Individual donors

• Foundation Grants

• Revenue from expeditions

• Social business investments

Scale: $4M/annual operating budget, 75 employees worldwide, approx 185,000 people directly impacted on an annual basis from leadership development, economic programs and access to basic services

Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson’s bio:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/chris-johnson-861229/

Instagram: @tzuku68

For the past twenty-five years Christopher has been involved in sustainable development work. He has been employed full-time with CHOICE Humanitarian for the past 20 years and has held positions at CHOICE Humanitarian as director of field operations for 12 years where he worked extensively to build and strengthen the Self-Developing Village Model together with Dr. James B. Mayfield and nine Country directors as it was piloted, tested and perfected in seven countries around the world. This model trains local leaders and their communities in developing and implementing sustainable strategies for accessing adequate education, healthcare, economic development and healthy environment in order to achieve a self-defined high quality of life.

Christopher worked as executive director for two years as Program Director for 5 years developing additional organization-wide initiatives. Christopher now focus his time on economic development connecting products from small-scale farmers and artisans to US markets establishing best-practices, protocols and profitable international trade ventures using a responsible sourcing and sustainable methodology.

In other non-profit work, Christopher worked as assistant executive director of the Humanitarian Resource Center of North America. He has led over 30 humanitarian expeditions for CHOICE as a volunteer as well as served an internship with them for one year working with the Huichol Indigenous tribe in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. He also spent two years on a service mission in Paraguay.

Christopher has a Bachelors of Science degree in Recreational Management from Brigham Young University and has completed the coarse work of a masters degree in Recreation Administration at California State University Chico.

Christopher is the author of Revitalizing Glendale: People, Resources and Strategies for Community Building. Sits on two other non-profit boards of directors, has been instrumental in starting three non-profit organizations and acts as an advisor to many more. He is father to three beautiful children, enjoys camping, traveling, cycling, mountain biking, snow boarding and just about anything that releases adrenaline into the bloodstream.

Interview with John Porter, the CEO of Focus Services, LLC.

The following is the pre-interview with John Porter. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above.

What is the problem you solve and how do you solve it?

With the profits and personal of our organizations, we provide resources; financial, professional and labor to elevate abject poverty and fight human trafficking.

More about Focus Services, LLC:

Twitter: @FocusServices1

Facebook: facebook.com/focusservicesllc

Website: Focusservices.com

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/focus-services/;

Instagram: instagram.com/focus.services/?hl=en

Focus is a multinational BPO (business processing outsourcer).

For-profit/Nonprofit: For-profit

Revenue model: Our entities are all for profit. We utilize these funds to support worthy groups.

Scale: We have thousands of employees working in several countries in the world.

John Porter’s bio:

Twitter: @jpfsi

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-porter-91033312/

Instagram: @johnporter2228

John is the founder and CEO of Focus Services, LLC and Clearview Technology, LLC and has been a founding member of other businesses. John loves to build businesses by driving technology, process and developing people. “The fun is in the growth.”

John and the businesses that he operates are very engaged in improving the lives of people in many regions in the world. He currently sits as a board member for Choice Humanitarian and is also involved in other charities and NGOs.

John has been married to Connie W. Porter for over 30 years. They have four children and will soon have six grandchildren.

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