My name is Phillip Yonekawa-Blest, and I am a UH graduate with a degree in economics and minors in leadership studies and psychology. I am a proud Houstonian who loves behavioral design, UX/UI, and behavioral economics. Mirroring my focus on interdisciplinary fields, my upbringing was centered around intersecting identities. I am seven-eighths Indian-American-Brazilian-Japanese and one-eighth Jewish-African. I was born as a culmination of cultures and raised in the middle of the most diverse city America holds. While spending most of my time in Houston, I have lived in communities ranging from the greater Dallas area to a missionary town in Brazil on the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest. I enjoy the benefits of living in Houston, not only because of the amazing variety of food but also through the communities presented within them. My involvement in Intervarsity, a college student organization, enabled me to engage, learn, and love these communities with a pluralistic mindset. As for my own community, I live in a predominantly working-class, Hispanic neighborhood that has its challenges as well, but I enjoy serving and facing them through involvement with my civic association. 

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Outside of community and student involvement, I enjoy bike rides and weightlifting accompanied by an Andrew Huberman podcast. I also love creating and performing mentalism, especially when it is a piece that works off a cognitive bias application. Growing up as an extroverted homeschooler, I love making the most of quality time both with family and friends. I also have an obsession with optimizing my health, especially regarding sleep and researching literature on the subject.