A conversation with President Boudreau and Kilsys Payamps-Roure, Executive Director of Braven
Braven's Executive Director, Kilsys Payamps-Roure, is this year’s Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar.

Kilsys Payamps-Roure is a strategic leader dedicated to enhancing economic mobility for students from diverse backgrounds. As the founding Executive Director of Braven–New York, she has expanded initiatives to equip college students with essential skills and networks. Since launching Braven at Lehman College in 2020, she has supported 2,511 students and recently partnered with the University of Mount Saint Vincent to serve an additional 1,475 students.Under her leadership, 84% of Braven Fellows from CCNY who graduated in 2024 are employed or pursuing further education, with significant increases in internship completion and selfefficacy in networking and job searching. Prior to Braven, Kilsys held leadership roles at the NYC Housing Authority and Enterprise Community Partners, and founded Kiki’s Corner, a stationery brand celebrating diverse communities. A daughter of Dominican immigrants, Kilsys holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Hofstra University and is actively involved in her community.

About Braven
Founded in 2013, Braven empowers promising, underrepresented young people—first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color—with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs. Braven is embedded within large public universities and partners with employers to build cutting-edge career education into the undergraduate experience for low-income and first-generation college goers and provides students with a network of supporters and a sense of belonging. Braven Fellows are persisting in college and achieving exciting levels of internship and job attainment. For more information about Braven, visit bebraven.org.

ABOUT THE DISTINGUISHED VISITING SCHOLAR LECTURE

Mr. Jack Rudin was a titan of this city. He dedicated his entire career to making New York City a more beautiful and welcoming city for its residents and for the millions who visit each year. He was also a fiercely loyal son of and a dedicated contributor to City College. He served as a member of the board on the 21st Century Foundation and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.

One of Mr. Rudin’s enduring legacies at City College is the establishment of The Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program in 1996. The Samuel Rudin Visiting Scholars Lecture, a component of this program, provides an opportunity for members of the college community to interact with outstanding scholars, business leaders, and government officials, enriching the education experience on campus. The Program is also intended to foster communication within the academic community of New York City. Samuel Rudin, a civic and philanthropic leader in New York City, was a member of the Class of 1918 at City College and went on to a prominent real estate career. The Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program is supported by a grant from the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc.

Previous Rudin Scholars include Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Walter E. Mosley, Susan Lacy, Ric Burns, Frank McCourt, the Honorable Mario Cuomo, Nobel Laureate Dr. Harold E. Varmus, Distinguished Physicist Michio Kaku, Tony Award-Winning Producer Vivek Tiwary, Nicholas Kristof and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

For more information or event-specific questions, please write to us at events@ccny.cuny.edu .