Rhonda Sanco, Araminta - Executive Director
As Araminta has gone through a host of transitions, Jonathan’s leadership has proven to be invaluable. Coming out of the pandemic, there were new challenges and opportunities. Helping the organization to explore ideas, and identifying the path forward while not getting bogged down in that process, allowed us to emerge with a strategic direction that met the new needs of our constituents. Jonathan can uniquely hold an organization’s values, historical context, and future goals in a dynamic tension; he then assimilates all information into a model that can be leveraged for working sessions. The tools & strategies he uses in working sessions ensure every voice is heard and ideas are captured. That said, in addition to his professionalism, Jonathan is a pleasure to work with. He’s compassionate and funny and draws the best out of people.
Victor Chang - Ministry to Africans in Canada-Toronto, Team Member
Our missions organization had a team retreat on September 2022 and invited Jonathan Porter as the main speaker. As a growing organization taking up different ministries and having priorities dynamically shifted, we needed someone who could provide guidance. Someone who would take the time to understand our team dynamics and culture, rather than walk us through a pre-determined rule-of-thumb good-for-all-organizations manual. Jonathan's consultant services were very valuable to all who attended. Jonathan was a spark plug that ignited direct and honest brainstorming sessions, which helped us properly cast our vision and re-prioritize as we moved forward into the next steps of our organization. Thank you Jonathan for all your valuable contributions.
Sunmbo Durosola - CAPRO-Canada, Board Member
ConsultantJ helped hit all the check marks of why we set up the retreat: Bonding with each other as a community, collectively seeking God's direction, deciphering and owning our part of the work, and [having] a new way of looking at the work God has committed into our hands that is doable.
John P. Brown - CAPRO-Canada, Executive Chairman
CAPRO-Canada is a new, multiethnic evangelistic ministry to immigrants and First Nations/Indigenous Canadians. We hired Jonathan Porter of ConsultantJ to help us prioritize next steps in our development across Canada. Jonathan has excellent group communication skills and knows how to put everyone at ease. He is diligent about collecting information before team gatherings, and he prepares and distributes reports that accurately reflect all team input. Most importantly to us, Jonathan clearly indicates the practical applications his work has for our organization. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ConsutantJ.
Dr. Renee Murrell - Araminta, Director of Community Engagement
I can’t find the words to describe [Jonathan's] contribution to Araminta’s Church Engagement Team Redesign process. I am completely in awe of your ability to effortlessly grow fragmented thoughts and a hodgepodge of ideas into meaningful concepts. Your gift in listening and processing information is remarkable. I thank God for your influence and for the opportunity to witness how effective redesign processes is done skillfully.
Greg Brown - Ministry to Africans in Canada-Montreal, Team Member
Jonathan brought his corporate work experience, his humour, his enthusiastic personality, his love for God and passion to see the gospel go forward in word and deed all together, which made for a stimulating environment and thought provoking discussions. He encouraged us in the things we are doing well, but also got us to think critically strategically about ways in which we could do better. We will surely see the fruits of his advice in both the short term and long term in accomplishing what God has called us to.
Board President, Baltimore-based Nonprofit
Jonathan guided us from a place of division and entrenchment to one of unity and forward movement. He’s a man of uncommon big-picture wisdom and calm presence, who I would trust leading even the most delicate conversations.
Jim Cantor - Maryland Chamber Foundation, Board President
[ConsultantJ] did an outstanding job and facilitated a very productive strategic planning meeting.
John J. Ingham - Araminta, Board Member
As a retired federal law enforcement official and current member of the Board of Directors for a Non-Governmental Organization supporting Human Trafficking Services, I participated in a strategic planning session managed by Jonathan Porter. Our goal was to focus the Board's efforts on those achievable goals 1-5 years in the future. Mr. Porter recognized that we had many experts in the room, all of whom could have spoken for hours. Everyone was able to get their voice heard, yet the delicate efficiency for which Mr. Porter was able to transition between individuals, capture goals, re-evaluate the totality of those goals and then narrow our focus to the most meaningful was greatly appreciated by all by the end of the session. Sometimes you don't appreciate the solution until you take the journey. This journey was the key to a unified Board of Directors embrace of the final product. Thank you Mr. Porter. Job Well done.
John P. Brown - Ministry to Africans in Canada (MAC), Executive Director
Ministry to Africans in Canada, or “MAC” is a Christian service ministry to immigrants and refugees. We hired Jonathan Porter of ConsultantJ to help us evaluate our vision statement and prioritize next steps in our development across Canada. Jonathan has excellent group communication skills and knows how to put everyone at ease. He is diligent about collecting information before team gatherings, and he prepares and distributes reports that accurately reflect all team input. Most importantly to us, Jonathan clearly indicates the practical applications his work has for our organization. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ConsutantJ.
Vickie Rekart - Araminta, Secretary of the Board
In March of 2022 Jonathan facilitated strategic planning for the Board of Directors and staff of Araminta Freedom, an organization created to eradicate child sex trafficking in the state of Maryland. The planning was conducted over an evening and a day. Jonathan was prepared, organized, humorous, and very capable of moving the discussions towards a target deliverable in the time frame provided. The introduction, work flow plans, break out groups, and documentation of the discussion were all well planned with time also allowed for undirected discussion between attendees. All this was done with a sense of humor that was helpful in dealing with the dark subject of human trafficking. Jonathan also did well balancing his job as the facilitator and providing input to the process as he is also a member of the Board. Follow up write ups were timely, well documented, and with a clear path set out toward next steps for our strategic planning. The day and a half were well worth the time given to guide Araminta into the future.