John Joseph Florido grew up on land his father planted with 3,000 trees. That property in Carcar City, Cebu has been in the Florido family for over forty years. His father bought it, cleared nothing, and built instead: two homes, a tennis court, and a life overlooking a coastal mangrove forest. John grew up inside that decision. Conservation was not a concept he learned in a classroom. It was the view from his front door.

His academic path reflects the same instinct to go where the problem is. He began university studying medical technology, drawn to systems that keep living things alive, then shifted to aeronautical engineering at Cebu Aeronautical Technical College. As Community Engagement Coordinator, John builds and maintains the relationships between Reef Without Borders and the local communities surrounding our Phase 1 work at Kontiki, Mactan, Cebu. He is the organization's first point of contact in Cebu and ensures that restoration work does not happen to communities but with them. The mangrove forest his family looks out over is still there. John intends to keep it that way.