Phil So joined AFB in 2022. He led the design and development of AFB Blind Leaders Development Program’s online learning management system and served on the instructional team with Talent Lab digital accessibility program. In January 2024, he began his current role as the research, evaluation, and training development associate. He supports partnered research, program evaluation, and serves as the point person for the Workplace Tech Training Development Initiative, an internal training on workplace tech tools.
Prior to joining AFB, Phil served as Research Manager, Instructor, and head of marketing at City University of New York Baruch College’s Computer Center for Visually Impaired People. Before that, he was a Research Associate at the market and user-experience research consulting firm GfK and a Research Analyst at Knowledge Networks, a survey research organization founded by Stanford University faculty. Phil began his career serving as a presidential intern in Washington, DC., where he worked on World Bank’s “Reaching the Poor” policy and program assessment project. He has worked on approximately 20 national survey research studies, and he is experienced in conducting survey research, program evaluation, and market and user-experience research. He has also presented on topics in disability and digital accessibility at Columbia Teachers College, City University of New York, and other universities. His insights particularly in program strategy and innovation have been recognized with appointments to board and committee member roles at the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey, and other public and nonprofit entities.
Phil holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Columbia University and undertook master’s coursework studies in instructional technology at Touro University Graduate School of Technology, where he conducted analysis on the success behind Israel’s assistive technology innovation ecosystem.
Expertise: Research, Training Development
