Phill Yi is the newest Northern Virginia Conservation Trust board member, and we are excited to have him! As a child, Phill grew up in Maryland and moved to Northern Virginia at the age of 12. Growing up in the DMV provided Phill with various opportunities to connect with nature, whether swimming in the Little Patuxent River or running through wooded areas near his home. Phill always wanted to serve others; he studied civil and environmental engineering at the Virginia Military Institute and joined the military to serve his country. However, Phill’s life led him down a different path of community service. After graduating, he pursued a master’s degree in environmental engineering and began his career in resource protection. Currently, he is the Associate Vice President at Hazen and Sawyer, where he supervises various projects focusing on the planning and designing of water resource recovery facilities. Phill has been with Hazen and Sawyer for 15 years! He finds his work rewarding because of the company culture and his ability to help communities by doing what’s right, not what is most profitable.
Prior to joining our board, Phill served on the board of the Virginia Water Environment Association for 6 years. He began as their young professionals representative and was elected president at the end of his time on the board. One of his key tasks was strategically thinking about better serving members through education and teaching about water. Phill is also heavily involved with his local church, serving as a deacon, as IT committee chair and works with the childhood youth group.
When asked what he liked most about Northern Virginia and the DMV, Phill shared, “We can have urbanized areas that still coexist with conserved areas; the diversity of landscapes is similar to how diverse the DMV is!” Phill enjoys the various opportunities Northern Virginia provides to its residents, whether it be going to a park to walk your dog or trying all the different cuisines in the area. Phill shared that he’s a huge foodie! What does saving nearby nature mean to Phill Yi? “Nature is all around us, “preserving trees, waterways, the open grass fields that we all get to enjoy whether it means picnicking or just strolling through a green space”.
What drew Phill to NVCT was our role in preserving the land and the natural beauty of Northern Virginia for future generations. Of our various board committees, Phill is interested in serving on our marketing and development committee and the land stewardship committee. Phill assisted with the execution of regional events for the Virginia Water Environment Association, like taking water models to classrooms and teaching about the water cycle! “At the Virginia Military Institute, I was a logistics officer, which involved a lot of event planning, and for the Virginia Water Environment Association, I helped with outreach events; I also think my connections in the industry could help with our marketing efforts.” Phill is also excited to learn about the land stewardship process and the research involved in identifying properties NVCT seeks to conserve. His connections within the water protection space will undoubtedly be useful for our work involving local watersheds. Phil wants to bring his new perspective to NVCT, “I genuinely appreciate a fresh set of eyes on projects that I work on and hope I can be that for NVCT.” When his time at NVCT ends, Phill hopes that he can walk away “having helped to continue to progress initiatives of identifying more properties that are strategically important and grow NVCT in all aspects.”
We are so excited to learn from Phill’s unique insights and see how his addition to our board helps take us into the future!
תגובות