Philip Bors, MPH

Project Officer

Office: 919-843-3081
Fax: 919-843-3083
phil_bors@unc.edu

Bio

As Project Officer for Active Living By Design (ALBD), Phil Bors provides technical assistance, support and monitoring for agencies and community partnerships funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He joined the organization in its initial days, helping to develop the Community Action Model - 5P Strategies and establish ALBD as a national leader promoting active living through community design. Phil provides consultation to other organizations that fund, develop, implement, and evaluate active living interventions. He also serves as evaluation coordinator for Active Living By Design, having led the development, implementation, and data analysis for a web based extranet progress reporting system that documents community changes.

Phil is grateful for the opportunity to facilitate the exchange of ideas and strategies among community partnerships that are striving to create positive, healthy changes. "I feel privileged to learn from communities across the U.S. and North Carolina, to see new leaders develop and emerge as mentors to other advocates," he says.

Prior to his current position, he was the evaluation coordinator for the North Carolina Cardiovascular Health (CVH) Program in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He also worked as a certified paramedic and instructor in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Phil earned a B.S. in biology from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in health behavior and health education from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill.

Phil is involved in his own community as a member of the Pittsboro Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. He has also worked on a variety of local planning, transportation, public school, and health promotion initiatives. He stays active by walking the dog, playing soccer, shooting hoops in the driveway, bicycling, running, and playing with his two daughters and wife.

Healthy Eating Story

I grew up eating out of cans. As an adult, I am learning to eat out of the garden. I recall going to my uncle's family reunions during summertime. At every visit, the adults talked about how beautiful his vegetable garden was, particularly the tomatoes. I had little interest in vegetables and even less interest in gardens, nor were my sisters and I exposed to fresh healthy foods at the dinner table while growing up. But I can now relate to the special feeling my uncle must have had in producing some of his own food, full of flavor and color. We don't grow prize winning tomatoes but we enjoy preparing for, planting, growing, and cooking fresh vegetables and herbs from our front yard. Now our children have a chance to appreciate the value of growing food and connecting it to their lives as healthy people.