Eric Phamdo

With a belief that people and ideas have no boundaries, Eric (he/him) has extensive and global experience in the nonprofit and social impact sector. Eric received both his degrees from the University of Rochester, a leading research university in upstate New York. Passionate about pro-social behavior change as related to environmental sustainability, Eric received his BA in psychology while also studying environmental conservation and health around the world. He received his MBA from UR’s Simon Business School, during which time he interned with the Global Development Lab at USAID and spent time in Norway studying Chinese-European business relations.

Eric began his career managing overseas education programs and operations at the University of Rochester – helping students connect to the world around them. Later, Eric worked at Causewave Community Partners in Rochester, NY, where he consulted with nonprofit clients on capacity-building projects to magnify their impact, become more sustainable, and develop social impact strategies. Passionate about community-driven philanthropy, Eric has held volunteer roles with both LGBT+ and emerging leaders giving circles in Rochester, which pooled the collective resources of members to support local organizations. Now he brings his global and local nonprofit expertise to his new role in philanthropy, serving as a program officer at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation in Detroit, Michigan.

A passion for catalyzing personal change and connectedness to the community is also what drives his yoga practice and teaching. Eric believes Yoga’s profound emotional, intellectual, and physical benefits facilitate connectedness to oneself and, most importantly, to others. Eric sees this conscious connection as an essential component of each person’s ability to care for themselves and others. As a past YSC scholarship recipient and now advisor, Eric is passionate about Yoga’s incredible capability to be accessible, inclusive, and joyous for all beings and communities.

The son of Vietnamese immigrants, Eric grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Besides practicing Yoga, Eric enjoys seeing new perspectives through traveling, dancing to loud music, and trying to finish one of the many books he’s started. In a past life, he trained to be a vegan chef but decided he liked eating more than working in a kitchen!