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Neal Keny-Guyer, chief executive officer of Mercy Corps and one of the most traveled humanitarians on the planet, jokes about having hillbilly roots. Indeed, just a hint of soft Tennessee drawl emerges as he shares stories of triumph and tragedy from his journeys.

The 1972 graduate of Knoxville Central High School was captain of his football team and a member of several service clubs. Keny-Guyer graduated from Duke University in 1976 with dual degrees in public policy and religion.

“The religion part was an effort to find out what I believed in terms of ethics and values, and the public policy part was to apply it in a practical way that would matter,” he said.

Keny-Guyer credits a mix of luck, providence and opportunity for his career, which began with an organization now known as Communities in Schools. For three years, Keny-Guyer worked with inner-city kids in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., who were considered at risk for joining gangs.

While earning his MBA at Yale University during the late ’70s, Keny-Guyer was profoundly impacted by the killing fields of Cambodia. He and two fellow students arranged to go to the border of Cambodia and Thailand to help Cambodian refugees.

“It was that experience of dealing with Cambodian, Southeast Asian and Vietnamese refugees that really ignited my passion for international work,” he said.

Keny-Guyer worked in Cambodia and Somalia before completing his MBA. He then joined Save the Children, where he met his future father-in-law and mentor, David Guyer. The pair worked together for nearly a decade, though Guyer passed away before his daughter, Alissa, and Keny-Guyer married. Now married for 20 years, they have three teenagers.

Keny-Guyer moved to Oregon in 1994 to lead Mercy Corps. The international humanitarian and development organization supports ongoing operations in nearly 40 countries, employs a staff of 3,700 and has an annual operating budget of $308 million.

With the intention of confronting poverty at home as well as abroad, Keny-Guyer led Mercy Corps’ recent move to Portland’s Old Town neighborhood. Mercy Corps spent $20 million to renovate the 118-year-old Packer-Scott building into its new headquarters.

The finished product, designed for platinum certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building program, incorporates recycled building materials, a green roof and solar array, energy-efficient windows, pervious pavers, and a system of six planters designed to slow rainwater runoff.

Mercy Corps’ new home is a welcome bit of good news these days. Having recently traveled to Haiti, Keny-Guyer called it one of the worst disasters he has ever seen. While it’s easy to become discouraged in the face of such devastation, he said his travels actually are rejuvenating.

“The thing that sustains me is the hope and the resilience of the people who have been impacted,” he said. “When I travel to the field, I can’t help but be renewed in my desire to make a difference and also be moved by the grace of the human spirit.”

Who was a mentor who helped shape you into the person you are today? What did that person teach you?

“My father-in-law and I grew very close when we worked at Save the Children together, and he became a mentor to me. Bob Osborn, my religion professor at Duke, had a wonderful spirit and was very encouraging that people should find meaning and purpose in life, go forth and do wonderful things. And Communities in Schools founder Bill Milliken really walked his talk and had a significant influence on me.”

Tell us something about yourself that most people might not know.

“I have a real passion for fly-fishing. I’ve been to Patagonia in Chili and to the far reaches of Russia for fly-fishing opportunities. Also, if I could somehow take two years off, I’d love to devote it to trying to be a master’s level athlete, probably a triathlete.”