ERIC Phillips, former White House Fellow under former U.S. President George Bush, says that he’s ready and willing to help shape the development of Guyana’s football. Phillips replaces Stuart May, who, along with Chairman Clinton Urling, Dr Karen Pilgrim, Tariq Williams and Rabin Chandarpal, was placed by FIFA to manage Guyana’s football affair with specific mandates until September of this year.
Currently a Lecturer in the Department of Business and Management at the University of Guyana, Phillips has served internationally as Chairman of the Board, CEO, MD, VP, COO, Programme Director and Engineer in seven countries.
In the USA, he served as the Project Manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories for the US$15 billion FTS2000 integrated telecommunication project which allowed him, among other factors, to successfully compete to become a 1990-91 White House Fellow.
“What I hope to bring to this team is support for the Normalisation process so that Guyana becomes more prominent in soccer (football)” Phillips said, while addressing the media yesterday.
Being a member of the group that worked with FIFA in Guyana to help revise Guyana’s football constitution, Phillips noted that he also plans to bring his “management skills, my access to corporation because funding is critical and I’m looking forward to bringing other leadership skills that I have experience in over the years”.
His background in sport ranges from (Phillips) being a 3rd Degree Black Belt to representing Guyana internationally in football, athletics and table tennis.
The Berbician has a Degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from New York University.
He was selected as one of 14 fast track MBA/engineers/leaders to spend fourteen months at Stevens Institute of Technology and AT&T Bell Laboratories in the Communications Training Programme (CTP) for Telecommunications Engineering.
Eric Phillips is a 1990-91 White House Fellow; the only Caribbean-educated Fellow of the 700 that have existed.