Karen Phillips and Her Role in the Founding of the Phillips Charitable Organization
Phillips Charitable Organization (PCO) is a philanthropic 501(c)3 registered nonprofit started by Karen and Charles Phillips. Their goal is to ensure that disadvantaged students who wish to enter into the science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) field, are able to receive quick and effective financial support to do so. Disadvantaged students include those from minority and impoverished backgrounds, single parents, army veterans, and wounded soldiers. PCO’s board consists of Eric Garvin, Young Huh, Charles Phillips, and Charles Phillips’ wife Karen. Since its inception, the PCO has been responsible for over 100 individual grants.
The four people on the board of PCO have been friends since they were children. They have supported various charities individually for a very long time, something they continue to do. However, they aimed, through PCO, to bring together all their individual efforts. By doing this, people who want to enter the STEM field but aren’t able to do so due to financial constraints, are able to quickly and efficiently receive the funding that they require. The system itself is used by many organizations, but because they often have a lot of red tape and bureaucracy, which means that it can take a very long time before any funds are handed out.
PCO wanted to fight this, aiming to create something with zero overhead. This means that any money they have available goes directly to those who need it. Furthermore, by having a board of just four, they are able to quickly make decisions. And, since the four are friends and share similar interests, deciding who receives grants becomes very easy. They fact that they share interests is also seen in the fact that they all volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.
PCO is one of the few charitable organizations in the country that has 100% efficiency. They do not have any overheads, don’t spend on office rent, and don’t creating brochures, marketing, or other fundraising events. Rather, they volunteer all of their time, and any money that is collected is granted directly to service users.
Single parents are one of the main areas of focus of the PCO, in part due to the fact that some of the board members came from single parent household. Two of the board members have degrees in engineering, which is why they wanted to have a focus on STEM education. They collectively agree that this will benefit the future of individuals, and the world as a whole. They also grant to wounded veterans, because all board members are army veterans themselves. In fact, that is where they met.
Karen and Charles Phillips are nothing short of inspirational. They are African Americans who have been able to break through the constraints of their minority background, paving the way for the next generation to do the same. It is also for this reason that Karen and Charles in particular give back in a variety of ways to African American communities, and young people in particular.
