John Phillips, Stabilization Advisor, Department of State

I am a career public servant, humanitarian professional, and a 2019 Presidential Management Fellow currently on detail to the State Department's Bureau for Conflict and Stabilization Operations. I graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy 2017, where my master's thesis studied compliance with the Arms Trade Treaty's provision on gender-based violence. After graduation, I was selected for the Luce Scholars program, for which I lived and worked in Taiwan and studied Chinese.

As a Marine, I currently serve in the Civil-Military Operations Planning Cell as part of the III MEF IMA Detachment. I have previously served in various roles and led diverse teams of Marines as a deployment processing chief, a career planner, a training chief, and a musician.

I speak advanced Arabic, advanced Mandarin, and in my off-time I serve as a Service 2 School mentor to veterans transitioning from active duty to university. I am also an avid reader and enjoy Middle East and Asian literature, Middle East history, philosophy, and humanitarian works.