March 14, 2023
“Pursue your passions and goals, shoot your shot and don't count yourself out”: The Journey of former D.C. Fellow Jason Santiago ‘20 and his path to self-discovery
Jason Santiago is a second-generation Bronxite and a proud product of the Caribbean Diaspora from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A passion for giving back to his community along with first-hand experience with struggles of food insecurity, housing instability, and environmental and economic racism motivated Jason to pursue his education at Bronx Community College. There, his involvement in… Read More »
January 24, 2023
The Lewis Mandell Memorial Fund for Students of Economics
The Lewis Mandell Memorial Fund for Students of Economics was established in tribute to Lewis Mandell (1943-2019), a 1964 graduate of City College of New York who credited CCNY, and specifically the Economics Department, with giving him the strong foundation from which he launched an extraordinary academic career that spanned more than four decades.
Throughout his life, Lew helped countless students to achieve academic success and a chance to pursue their dreams. In gratitude to CCNY and the Economics Department… Read More »
November 15, 2022
How Nini Puello Araujo, CPS Student and U.S. Military Veteran, Is Combining Dentistry and Humanitarianism
Since her family migrated to the US from Venezuela when she was a child, Nini J. Puello Araujo has built a career in service to society both as a U.S. Army veteran and as a rising humanitarian and public health professional. After completing her associate’s degree at Borough of Manhattan Community College, she joined the Army and served overseas for more than five years. One of her final missions was to set up a dental services clinic in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, an experience… Read More »
November 15, 2022
From Mauritius to Harlem to Oxford: the Story of Colin Powell Fellow Humaira Hansrod
Born in Mauritius, Humaira Hansrod moved to New York City with her family at a young age. In the midst of such a big change, she welcomed the diversity of the city and the opportunities it offered her to learn about cultures, people, and local and global issues. It was precisely its richly diverse student body that drew Humaira to City College, where she was offered a spot in the Macaulay Honors College. She started as a pre-med student but decided to declare a double major in Economics and… Read More »
October 18, 2022
Compassion and Connection Are More Important than Questionnaires: Alumna Justine Fleischner on the Heart of Violent Conflict
Justine Fleischner (Class of ‘08) is a writer, researcher, and weapons expert with over a decade of experience working in countries affected by armed conflict, and she currently serves as vice president of the Afghan Peace Watch. In this interview, she offers lucid anecdotes and key insights from her professional journey. As a student majoring in international studies at CCNY, she found her passion for public service and global human rights while… Read More »
September 20, 2022
For Inspiration, Look to Your Own Story: Cris Mercado’s Winding Path to Social Entrepreneurship
Immigrant. Scholar. Social Entrepreneur. Immigration rights activist. CPS-CCNY alumnus. Cris Mercado’s career has been anything but linear. He came to CCNY after being denied a scholarship to study engineering at NYU because of his undocumented status. Through an on-campus research opportunity he demonstrated his academic skills and earned the top fellowship for CUNY’s PhD Program in Criminal justice, only to pivot and create his own consulting firm with seed capital provided by… Read More »
August 29, 2022
Rise Up! Never Give Up in Pursuit of Your Dreams, Says CCNY Alum Anthony Cole
“Sometimes we want to give up and run / we got to keep holding on / rise up; never let them get you down — never let them.” These lyrics open Anthony Cole’s recent hit single and capture an essential lesson he hopes current and future CCNY students will embrace: to never stop cultivating the talents and other super powers that make you unique. An immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, Cole is now a Senior Program Manager at Amazon Music and also serves as the president of the Amazon Black Employee… Read More »
August 29, 2022
Focus on the Journey as well as the Destination: Chen Li’s Passion for the Scientific Study of Human Behavior
Chen Li pondered life’s biggest questions from an early age, questioning everything from current events to her school’s curriculum. An AP Psychology course in high school sparked her passion for using science to study the mind in order to shed light on human behavior. Attracted by the Colin Powell School’s strong Psychology Department as well as CCNY’s beautiful campus and affordability, Li excelled as a researcher and participated in a neuroscience research… Read More »
July 19, 2022
Destini Hornbuckle (MPA ‘21) grew up with a love for education, writing, and family. She developed a strong commitment to social action and participated in mock trial and leadership programs focused on criminal justice reform. She initially saw herself pursuing a career in law, but she pivoted when she realized she wanted to be more directly involved in creating policy. Based on advice from mentors and her own research about the field, Hornbuckle joined the MPA Program at CCNY, where she was selected as a Changemaker Fellow, and she now works as a Senior Policy Analyst at the NYC… Read More »
July 19, 2022
Born and raised in Manhattan, Cassidy Drummond completed her bachelor’s degree in Minnesota and then returned to New York City to join the MA Economics program at the Colin Powell School. Sparked by her experience advocating for a minimum wage hike for on-campus workers at the University of Minnesota, Drummond discovered her passion for labor rights and chose CCNY's program because of its public economics concentration. In her first semester as a graduate student, she found a community and a support system in her peers and professors, excelled in the foundational courses that she… Read More »
Last Updated: 08/26/2020 16:36