A former Senior Foreign Service officer, Phil served in Washington, Asia and Europe during his almost thirty years with the State Department.  As Director of American Citizen Services and Crisis Management, he helped coordinate the USG response to Ebola, hurricanes, earthquakes, bombings and more.  He led Consular teams abroad in the largest Consular district in the world and managed the largest visa operations in Europe and Asia.  Phil served as Political Advisor to the Defense Department’s Office of Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflicts.  For two critical years, he coordinated counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence efforts for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, as the Consular Intelligence Coordinator.

Prior to the Foreign Service, he worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, ship’s carpenter and schoolteacher.