Phidor Kong graduated from Beloit College with a double major in Political Science & Environmental Justice and Citizenship and a departmental honor in Political Science. She is currently pursuing a MS in Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. Dedicated to sustainable development, Phidor spends time outside of her class working as a sustainability assistant at CMU’s Sustainability Initiative, promoting sustainability across CMU’s campus.
While at Beloit, Phidor studied abroad in Finland and England in 2021 and 2022. While studying abroad, Phidor was able to expand on her academic experiences in environmental politics, policy, and cultures. In 2023, Phidor was awarded the Sikandra Spain Memorial Award for her dedication to contributing to developing countries’ development. At the same time, she was awarded the Weissberg Human Rights Fellowship for her exceptional social justice advocacy. For three years in a row (2020-2022), Phidor was awarded the Jane Quisenberry Wirtz and W. Willard Wirtz Endowed Scholarship by the Department of Political Science for her exceptional leadership during her tenure at Beloit College. As a recognition of her academic excellence, Phidor was also selected to become a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha and the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Phidor is passionate about environmental sustainability and governance—believing that creating environmentally friendly policies with effective governance will better the world. She joined Beloit College’s Sustainability Channel to advocate for environmental sustainability on campus. She has actively researched and interned in different institutions. She worked with Beloit College’s Department of Political Science to study freedom of expression and expatriate justices in Africa. Phidor also worked with the Future Forum to study Cambodia’s existing policies on natural resource management. She authored a chapter for their book and made policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of Cambodia’s natural resource management law and policy implementation. She interned at Oxfam Novib Cambodia to conduct a research project in a natural resource governance program: Advancing CSOs’ Capacity to Enhancing Sustainability Success. Phidor had additional experience working in environmental protection and community development with NGOs before coming to the U.S.
In Summer 2023, Phidor ran her Make A Change Project to conduct a post-high school career pathway workshop and bring 150 newly published books to the Preah Beyda Chea High School in her hometown, Kampot, rural Cambodia. Her workshop prepared 300+ high-school students for their career preparation. Her book donation gave 1000+ students an opportunity to explore their passion and the outside world through reading.
