Not afraid to dream
The vision of Spark of Hope Foundation is to deliver hope to the people of Baja California, Mexico through hands-on service from ordinary people.
We Build Hope on Both Sides of the Border.
The vision of Spark of Hope Foundation is to deliver hope to the people of Baja California, Mexico through hands-on service from ordinary people.
We Build Hope on Both Sides of the Border.
Brad Christensen and 28 young men make their first trip to Tijuana, building a chapel onto a drug rehab center in El Hongo, MX and finishing a room for Kristina's disabled son in Otay, MX. Charity Anywhere made this trip possible and Spark of Hope Foundation is born.
Brad Christensen and his sons make their first 'Fathers and Sons" trip to Tijuana, building a home for the Maria (Rosa) in Otay Mesa. (12 volunteers)
Spark of Hope Foundation's first "Family Service" trip to Tijuana, fixing a home they call "bridge house" and working on Padre Jaime's Disabled Children's Center. (33 volunteers)
Spark of Hope Foundation's first Corporate Service Trip. VIVINT built a home in 3 days.
(26 volunteers)
Spark of Hope Foundation teams up with Vivint to build a dormitory and warehouse for tools/materials. The building is named "Chispa" which means "Spark" in Spanish. Today Chispa is used 15+ times a year for Spark of Hope Foundation service trips and by other charitable foundations when they do service in Tijuana. Thank you Vivint! (45 volunteers)
Spark of Hope Foundation takes its first Single, Young Adult service trip. Together we painted 7 houses. We called it the 'Tour de Tijuana'.
(26 volunteers)
Spark of Hope Foundation breaks ground on "Amigas" a women's center created to support the women of Tijuana in raising their families. Amigas will be open for operation in 2021.
Spark of Hope Foundation has been blessed to serve with over 2,500 volunteers since 2001. These ordinary people doing extraordinary things are in fact anything but ordinary. Hope has been built on both sides of the border by these selfless, hard working, amazing people.
We are enthusiastic about the next 22 years!
Brad Christensen and Kim Christensen founded Spark of Hope Foundation together. He has planned and led over 50 service trips to Tijuana since 2001. These service trips are Youth Trips, Fathers and Kids Trips, Family Trips and Corporate Team Building Trips. Brad believes that the spreading of hope to the poor of Tijuana will be the cure to the poverty that currently plagues them. He sees hope created in the hearts of both the people being served and in the volunteers providing the service on every service trip. Brad has a Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in Mechanical Engineering. He and Kim are the parents of 4 talented boys, a wonderful daughter in law, 3 grandsons and a granddaughter (finally!).
Kim Christensen co-founded Spark of Hope Foundation. She has been on 40+ service trips and helped in pre-trip planning for over 60 service trips since 2001. Kim was instrumental in helping Spark of Hope Foundation transition from its initial focus on Youth Service Trips to the current Family Service Trips. She is actively involved in Spark of Hope Foundation as its treasurer and secretary. Kim graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in English. She is the mother of 4 boys, a beautiful daughter in law and has 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.
Robert S. Conlee is Chairman of the Board of Modere in Springville, UT. Prior to joining Modere, Robert was a senior executive at Nu Skin Enterprises and Xango LLC. Concurrent with serving on the Spark of Hope board, Mr. Conlee also serves as a board advisor to the Salt Lake City based Blue Chip Group company. Robert has a bachelor’s degree in Japanese from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in business administration from Temple University. He was elected to the Board in 2009.
David M. Kono is a partner at the Salt Lake City law firm, Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from both Brigham Young University and the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Dave, his wife, Sharon, and their four children experienced their first Spark of Hope trip to Tijuana in the Spring of 2017. They immediately fell in love with the people of Tijuana as well as the volunteer families with whom they served. The experience forever changed his family. As a result, Dave desired to help Spark of Hope fulfill its vision and purpose to truly “change lives on both sides of the border.” He was elected to the Board in 2018.
Pete Gehrett works at Adobe in Lehi as a Senior Manager in the Technology Services organization. He’s a licensed CPA who has spent the majority of his career in the IT industry and has worked with several not-for-profit boards over the past decade. Pete has a Master of Accountancy degree with an emphasis in Information Systems from BYU. He began his journey with Spark of Hope in the spring of 2016 when he and his family took their initial trip to Tijuana to complete the builds for 2 houses in just 3 days. The experience changed their outlook on life and they have taken several trips since then. He was elected to the Board in 2022.
David Christensen has over 30 years’ experience in helping companies go from Good to Great. As CEO and EVP of Enterprise Technology Consulting, and a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, he is a recognized expert in global operations, supply chain and logistics, PCI payments, POS systems, security, private equity, and strategy deployment. Dave is also CEO and President of Meso Numismatics Inc. David has been on several Spark of Hope Foundation service trips, Is fluent in Spanish, and loves to serve the people of Mexico. He was elected to the Board in 2023.
