The Phillips-Green Family, through the Paul C. Phillips Trust, provides financial support to organizations dedicated to the education and well-being of children, women and families. The Phillips-Green Family is thrilled to support ALMA, the Arizona Latino Media Association, and its focus on education, as their purposes are so well aligned.

 

Paul C. Phillips valued education and opportunity above anything else. Born in Cheyenne in 1927 and raised by a single mom, he joined the US Navy at the very end of World War II. The GI bill gave him the opportunity to attend the University of Wyoming. After university, and before becoming a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, Paul worked at the Denver Post, where he was editor of the paper’s Sunday magazine.

 

Paul knew that his world expanded with each story, each flight, with each class, with each military posting he had around the world. He embraced the idea that we all need to challenge ourselves and then challenge those coming behind us. He believed that education and strength of character go hand in hand, values he passed on to each of his four children.

 

After a full career in the Air Force, Paul went on to work at the University of Maryland, teaching military personnel around the world, opening up new borders not just physically, but mentally as well. He valued his travels, which allowed him to teach, to learn, to share. 

 

Paul enjoyed visiting his daughter, Robin, who lived in Arizona for many years. When Paul lost his battle with dementia in 2017, he left a gift for his children to distribute. His only instructions were that his money be used to help children and families. And Robin and her wife, Susan Green, were determined that her father's memory be kept alive by keeping alive dreams and opportunities of the scholars and young journalists of ALMA.