Alumni Stories

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 »


June 28, 2022

Robert Feder’s first semester at CCNY was spring 1947. He met Marjorie Feder in the fall of 1948, while she was a senior at Bronx Science (he was also a Science graduate — they are, in fact, the first Bronx Science couple ever to marry!). This letter was from fall of 1949, when Marjorie (17) went to Bard. Bob would turn 19 at the end of November. In one letter, he described the schedule that he was planning to take: Registration is close and I’m quite worried about it. I’ll be carrying 19-1/2 credits which is way over par and taking Art, English, History, Latin, Public… Read More »


March 01, 2022

  “It's Okay to Not Have Your Life Planned Out” — Former Colin Powell Graduate Fellow Christopher Rick on his Circuitous Path to Academia   CCNY was “the place that put big ideas into my head,” says Christopher Rick, a graduate of the MA Program in Economics who is now finishing a PhD at Syracuse and will soon begin a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard. A self-described “boring, suburban kid from Maryland,” Rick was drawn by the rush of city life and the beautiful architecture of CCNY and Harlem. In the Colin Powell School, he found his passion for learning to use public… Read More »


March 01, 2022

  Fulvio Dobrich, Class of 1971 Alumnus, Leaves a Lasting Legacy with New Americans Scholars Program    “I only met Fulvio for a brief moment; however, in that moment I saw the kindness in him, and that he truly cared about the students he was supporting. I will always remember him for giving me this opportunity to work towards my goals, but above all, for being an amazing person.”— Alexander Pichol, Colin Powell Undergraduate Fellow 2021-2022 “Meeting Mr. Dobrich, along with some other students from my fellowship cohort, was one of the most memorable experiences of my Fall… Read More »


February 08, 2022

  Serigne Cheikh Kara Cisse, Colin Powell School Alumnus and Staff Member, Selected to Become Military Intelligence Officer The Colin Powell School extends our warmest congratulations to Serigne Cheikh Kara Cisse for being selected to serve as a Military Intelligence Officer in the US Army. Cisse has been a dedicated administrator in the Dean’s Office since 2017. A native of Senegal, Cisse joined the Colin Powell School community as a student, earning his bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics and his master’s degree in international affairs. He also served… Read More »


January 18, 2022

  “Never Forget Your Roots” — Student Government President Andrew Salmieri Reflects on His Path as a Student Leader    Andrew Salmieri, a third-generation Italian-American from Brooklyn and current senior at the Colin Powell School, rose from senator to vice president to president of the student government at CCNY. In this interview, he recalls the tightly-knit family relations, the gifted and talented programs, and the Catholic school teachings that laid the foundation of his worldview, which is oriented toward service and social justice. Specifically, Salmieri discusses the… Read More »


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Last Updated: 08/26/2020 16:36