A dynamic couple, Trevor and Evelin Neilson, talk to Chit L Lijauco about the many things that can be done

They tell a story of coincidences, twists of fate, and confluences of events—elements of the formula of a good novel. The protagonists are a handsome couple too, a potent ingredient that can turn a good novel into an instant bestseller—which, in this case, can be titled, Trevor & Evelin. All it needs is a villain, an ugly truth, and a sinister threat lurking on the sides; but don’t hold your breath—you are not going to get any.

Trevor Neilson and Evelin Weber come from two different worlds. He is from the West Coast of the United States; her roots are from the East, in the Philippines. When they met, he was living in Malibu while she, in London. However, there are simply too many similarities in their past that fate must have had no choice but to pave the way for an encounter, using their common passion—philanthropy—as the conduit.

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Above Evelin has made a name for herself in various fields and in the major capitals of the world; but her heart still belongs to her home country and now, particularly to the province of Leyte

“It’s a nice story. I felt like fate really had a big hand in it,” Evelin agrees.

She starts: “I was in New York for a visit and was going to this cocktail party in Manhattan with a friend, a young man whom I was helping to get a job with this company.”

“It was my company’s cocktail party,” Trevor picks up.

He continues: “So, she walked in and  noticed her right away. She looked different, not like anyone I know or have met in Midtown Manhattan. ‘Who’s that?’ I asked around. But she was giving me absolutely no attention at all and I was racking my brains thinking of how I can meet her!”

Trevor was spot on. Evelin, indeed, was not interested in striking any friendship that could turn into a long-term relationship at this cocktail party. She was just focused on getting a job for her friend, aching to leave New York for Los Angeles to visit her father, do a side trip to the Philippines to check on her philanthropic projects, and then head back home to London. “Living in London, why would I entertain any thoughts of getting involved with a man residing in New York?” she says.

At one point in the evening, Evelin happened to mention to someone that she was into philanthropy. This person said, “Oh, you should talk to Trevor over there; he’s into philanthropy, too.”

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Above Trevor, Evelin, and son Max enjoying the perks of having a house in beach town Malibu

“I think I rolled my eyes and thought, another American who likes to go to Africa on a safari, paint a school, and call himself a philanthropist! Little did I know that what I’ve accomplished was nothing compared to what he’s done,” says Evelin.

Trevor was so relieved to find this common interest with Evelin. “It was a good moment because I was able to make her pay attention to me. Without the topic of philanthropy, I would not have had a chance at all,” he says.

He was smitten and pursued Evelin for weeks after that. Trevor tried to get her number from her friends, who were non-cooperative. They knew Evelin was not interested in any long-distance relationship. “But rather than be discouraged, Trevor—being Trevor—was even more challenged. He decided to troll me on social media,” says Evelin.

As she had planned, she flew to California to visit her father. It was the holiday season and on New Year’s Eve, Evelin’s father had to be confined in the hospital. “The saddest part of the story is he never left,” she says.

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Above Trevor is a major player in the international business world, but he follows one rule: invest only in profitable businesses that have social impact

Trevor stood by her all throughout the difficult days. From his home in Malibu, he sent her consoling Buddhist sayings via text messages every day. Evelin was scheduled to leave California for the Philippines on the 5th of January, so Trevor asked her out to dinner on the 4th. On the 3rd, however, Evelin’s father died, without any close relatives nearby except for her. She felt the strong urge to be with someone and the only one she knew within miles was Trevor. She drove from the hospital in Yosemite for hours to Malibu, crying all the way.

This story is three years old. Today, Trevor and Evelin live together in a beautiful home near the beach, have a dog called Zuma, are raising an adorable son named Maximilian Weber. They got married in simple ceremonies in Malibu last New Year’s Eve. “We kind of did things backwards,” says Trevor.

PARALLEL PATHS

As co-founder and CEO of i(x) investments, Trevor is engaged in initiatives that create not only economic growth but catalytic social impact. Like WasteFuel, that partners with governments and technical experts around the world in a project that converts municipal solid waste into aviation fuel. He introduced the technology, which is already in full swing in several places like Colombia and Reno in Nevada, to a few Filipino leaders last July. It can address two major problems in this country: waste and pollution and high jetfuel costs.

Investments such as this is what Trevor’s company, launched in 2015 with his cofounder W Howard Buffett, grandson of the tycoon Warren, gets involved in. After all, its guiding motto is “Profit with Purpose.”

Evelin treads a similar path. She co-founded a business enterprise called Narra Life, an Artificial Intelligence company that provides financial access as well as insurance to the poor. Applying sophisticated neuro data science, Narra uses its own facial recognition platform and its own credit scoring model.

Both possess impressive credentials. Prior to i(x) investments, Trevor was the president of G2 Investment Group which had interests in energy, real estate, and security. He also co-founded Global Philanthropy Group, an advisory firm for philanthropic enterprises which was sold in 2016.

Because of his leadership in business and social change, Trevor served as the executive director of Global Business Coalition, an umbrella group of over 200 multinationals that focuses on global health issues and was created by funds from Bill Gates, George Soros, and Ted Turner. He was a founding member of the team that created  and launched the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, served at the White House during the Clinton administration, and was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005.

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Above Evelin and Trevor relaxing in their Malibu home

Evelin graduated from Syracuse University then worked for 10 years on Wall Street as a banker, trader, and broker. Several profiles written about her mention that she has been a television show host and a model; she is also a licensed pilot, a certified sommelier, as well as a published author.

Their origins, however, are continents apart. Evelin was born and raised in the Philippines to a Filipina mother and a German father before she and her family moved to Upstate New York when she was in her teens. Trevor was born in Seattle, Washington, and studied there until second year of law. He left school to work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Philanthropy is where East and West meet—as the two found out over cocktails in Manhattan on an autumn evening. This passion was ingrained in each one by strong influences in their life.

“I was living in London when I met my mentor, the late conservationist Lawrence Anthony. He taught me so much about community, the ecosystem, that you should not solve one thing without solving another—a holistic approach to everything,” she says.

Trevor’s four other brothers and sisters were adopted by his parents. “When you grow up in this United Nations kind of family, you develop a unique point of view, believing that all lives are of equal value,” Trevor comments. His father, Scott Charles, was the Juvenile Justice Commissioner for Thurston County in Washington State; his mum, Janice Secord, led  an international adoption and child welfare organisation for 30 years.

“My mum also did philanthropy work in Cebu many years ago,” Trevor shares, adding that he even accompanied her on a few trips to the Philippines before. He adds that his mum, being a religious woman, was introduced to Cebu and the plight of its indigent citizens by the nuns in their community in Seattle.

After working with countless philanthropists and charity organisations through the different companies he has worked with, Trevor is currently invested in Raising Malawi, a mission founded by Madonna in 2006 to improve the lives of children in Malawi, a tiny but densely populated landlocked nation in central sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, after his July trip to Manila to pitch his plastic-to-power energy project, he was flying to Africa to join Madonna in Malawi.

Evelin, for her part, has The Philippines Foundation that creates community-rebuilding programmes aimed at educating and empowering disadvantaged women and children in the Philippines. One of its recent major endeavours is the donation of a thousand boats to the victims of typhoon Haiyan in Leyte province. It has also now partnered with SoFa Design Institute.

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Above The handsome family at the entrance of their home

Ilocana blood runs through Evelin’s veins, her mum being a native of the northern Ilocos region of the Philippines. But helping the victims of Haiyan must have made her fall in love with this place in central Philippines that she organised, last 30 November and 1 December, a music and arts festival called For the Love of Leyte.

The event, which can be likened to Burning Man, featured the talents of this region, from music to crafts. Held in a campsite an hour away from Leyte’s capital, Tacloban, it brought in homegrown artists (Bullet Dumas, Itchyworms) as well as from the US and the UK (Free the Robots, Digital Donboi). It also held interesting workshops like tuba (palm wine) painting and banig (mat) weaving.

BLESSED BY THE UNIVERSE

The worlds of Trevor and Evelin are so evenly matched. They both like doing business with a conscience. They are both passionate in helping other people. They both give fate so many reasons to smile down on them and pay them back for all the good deeds they daily do.

Like this story about adorable Max. “While my father was dying, I was whispering to him to already go as he will have more power in heaven than here on earth,” Evelin relates. But to lighten up the situation perhaps, she asked him a favour: “Dad, when you are in heaven, please give me a sign that I will find the right man.” Her father smiled and said yes.

Then Evelin’s father added, “Now that I am already taking special requests, is there anything else that you want?”

Of course she had a second request. “Dad, I want a child with blonde hair and blue eyes. Maybe throw in a dimple or two as well,” Evelin remembers.

“When he could not talk anymore, I lightheartedly reminded him about his promise of a grandson. He squeezed my hand; I took that as a yes,” she says.

Two years later, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and be-dimpled Maximilian Weber was born.