About George
A Brief Overview
George Phillips was born in Johnson City, New York and grew up in nearby Endwell where he now resides with his wife, Diana, and their son, George Joseph. George is currently a teacher in the Binghamton area, working on both the high school and Community College level. He previously worked as a high level Congressional aide for Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey - then the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee - was a teacher in Louisiana and Washington, DC Public Schools, and worked at the IBM Endicott plant during summers in college.
Early Life
George’s early life was shaped by watching his older brothers in sports and his parents involved in many service activities at their Church and in the community. He attended St. Anthony of Pauda grade school and Seton Catholic Central Middle School, both in Endicott, New York, and was active in Endwell Little League Baseball and Youth Football as well as Louis N. Picciano Boys’ Club Basketball.
George went on to attend Seton Catholic Central High School where he continued to be active in sports and academics. His senior year, he was Captain on the Varsity Basketball and Track teams and a starter on the Varsity Football team. He also participated in American Legion Baseball for Post 80.
George was both his Senior class and Key Club President and was involved in S.A.D.D. and the school newspaper. He was selected to attend Boys’ State Leadership Conference and received numerous awards upon his graduation in 1994 including the IBM Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship and the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ Essay Scholarship. Throughout Junior and Senior High School, George also worked as a paper carrier for the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.
College & Work at IBM
George attended Villanova University where he graduated Magna cum laude in 1998 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History and minors in Political Science and Theology. George was very active in extra-curricular activities, participating in a tutoring program and street outreach programs in inner-city Philadelphia, Campus Ministry, and The Center for Peace and Justice Education. He also was Vice President of Service for Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, and took part in a Habitat for Humanity service trip and a mission trip to Mexico.
In his senior year, George won an award for best research paper in History for his work researching Civil Rights legislation in the 1960’s. During his first two years in college, he was a member of Villanova’s Track and Field team. In his final year of college, he was named Villanova’s Intramural Athlete of the Year.
During his summers in college, George worked in manufacturing at IBM’s plant in Endicott, New York. He was in the microelectronics division, working on circuit boards and mainframes.
Teaching in Louisiana & Washington, DC
Upon graduation from Villanova University in 1998, George was accepted into the University of Notre Dame’s highly competitive Alliance for Catholic Education teacher training program. He taught for two years at Loyola College Prep in Shreveport, Louisiana and coached high school basketball, softball, and track.
After the tragic murder of a student’s father, George helped organize a city-wide “March Against Violence” which won a national Thousand Points of Light Award. During the summers between teaching, George earned his Masters’ in Education from the University of Notre Dame, graduating Magna cum laude from in 2000.
George then moved to Washington, DC where he briefly worked for Sallie Mae, Inc. in their government relations division promoting the importance of student loans. George then taught in inner-city Washington, DC Public Schools as a long term substitute. Most of his time was spent at Eastern Senior High School, the largest school in the district with an all-African American population of over1400 students.
Work in Congress
In the Spring of 2001, George landed a position with Congressman Chris Smith, whom he had interned for previously. Congressman Smith was then the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
George advised Congressman Smith on foreign affairs, business, banking, trade, immigration, social security, and senior issues. He worked on numerous pieces of legislation that were signed into law including:
- The “Trafficking Victims Protection Act” – combated forced prostitution and forced slave labor (Public Law 108-193)
- The “Microenterpise Enhancement Act” – expanded loans to poor people in the developing world to start and expand their own small businesses (Public Law 108-31)
- The “Results and Accountability in Microenterprise Act” – limited money from going to high priced consultants and contractors, sending more money directly into microenterprise programs (Public Law 108-484)
- The “Torture Victims Relief Act” – funds to treat torture victims (Public Law 108-179)
- The “Debt Relief Enhancement Act” – an amendment to the historic $15 billion AIDS bill designed to provide debt relief for poverty stricken nations (Title V of Public Law 108-30)
George was extremely involved in promoting human rights around the world and actively worked on the peace process in Northern Ireland. He also had the opportunity to meet and work with such celebrity lobbyists as Bono, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, and Richard Gere.
George was also able to view Congressman Smith’s work firsthand on a variety of other issues, including laws to increase Veterans’ Health Care, expand the highly successful GI Bill, and provide assistance for homeless Veterans. Congressman Smith headed the Autism, Alzheimer’s, and Spina Bifida Caucuses as well as the House Refugee and Vietnam Caucuses, which George staffed for him. Congressman Smith was also active in the fight to ban partial-birth abortion and taxpayer funding for abortions.
While in Washington, George also worked as a tutor for four years with Horton’s Kids, an after school program for underprivileged students from the inner city, and briefly taught as a volunteer in an adult education program.
Marriage & Teaching
In 2004, George met his future wife Diana at Saint Patrick’s Church in downtown Washington, DC. They were married in 2005 in her home country of Colombia and were blessed with the birth of a baby boy, George Joseph in 2006.
In 2005, George returned to home to teach at his alma mater, Seton Catholic Central High School. He also landed a position teaching government at Broome Community College. George currently teaches AP US History, Economics, Psychology, Modern Legal Issues, Faithful Citizenship and Freshmen Theology at the high school level and Intro to American Government at the community college.
In 2005, Diana and George also started their own home based small business – D & G Phillips’ Graphic Design – which utilizes Diana’s graphic design expertise. They produce logos, stationary, business cards, and letterhead.
George and his wife own a home in Endwell, New York near Our Lady of Angels Church where they are parishioners.
Family
George’s father, George C. Phillips, is a retired Ceramic Engineer from IBM and Deacon at Our Lady of Angels parish. He also teaches Physics at Seton Catholic Central High School, is an active volunteer at Catholic Charities food pantry, and was previously the chaplain at Broome Community College.
George’s mother, Mary Lou Phillips, is a homemaker and active volunteer for the Ladies of Charity “Nearly New” used clothing store and at Christ the King and Our Lady of Angeles Churches.
George has three older brothers. The oldest, Michael is a substance abuse counselor for Broome County and was recognized as counselor of the year in Broome County in 2002. The second oldest, Robert is a Vice President for Human Resources for Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Company and resides in Connecticut with his wife Kathy and their five children. George’s youngest brother, Chris is a counselor at Johnson City High School.
George’s sister-in-law Edna resides in Baltimore with her husband Julio, an industrial designer, and their four kids.
