Two of CCNY's three 2025 Fulbright winners, Rafath Gnabode [left] and Flora Lennihan.
Rafath Gnabode and Kristy Lee, both members of The City College of New York’s Class of 2025, and 2022 alumna Flora Lennihan, are recipients of Fulbright awards.
Gnabode, who’s graduated from CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership with a BA in economics and a minor in international studies, is headed to France. She’ll pursue a master’s in economics at ENS Paris-Saclay through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
The Harlem resident, who was born in Benin Republic, West Africa, plans a career as an international economic consultant working with governments, NGOs, and IGOs to support sustainable development in underserved communities.
The Fulbright scholarship is Gnabode’s latest honor. Her other accolades include a Colin Powell Fellowship in Leadership and Public Service, the Edward I. Koch Fellowship in Public Service, the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, and the Harvey Leopold ’57 Scholarship. In addition, she spent fall 2022 in London on a Gilman International Study Abroad Scholarship.
Kristy Lee leaves CCNY with dual BA and MA degrees in history from the Macaulay Honors College at CCNY. Her Fulbright will take her to Taiwan as an English Teaching Assistant.
Flora Lennihan is also a graduate of CCNY’s Macaulay Honors College, where she earned her BFA in film production with minors in anthropology and journalism. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Research Grant to Croatia.
During her nine months there, she plans to travel throughout Croatia and create a documentary film about emigration and return migration of its diaspora, a topic that is both timely and personal. Lennihan will be mentored by professors and advisors at the University of Dubrovnik, the University of Zagreb, and the Rochester Institute of Technology’s campus in Dubrovnik.
Among her student honors at CCNY were: 2020 CUNY Film Festival Best Short Documentary for “A Greenhouse Grows in The Bronx;” the NBCU Academy Journalism Fellowship (2021-2022), 2022 Mark of Excellence Award Finalist in Broadcast/Online News Videography from the Society of Professional Journalists; 2024 CUNY Film Festival Best Short Documentary Finalist for “Motherland” and “Documenting Life”; and the CCNY Dean’s List.
Post-CCNY, Lennihan has worked as a video editor and project manager at CUNY TV. She’s also done freelance work in the film and entertainment industries in New York since 2019, primarily filming concerts for Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. She played the saxophone in O’Farrill’s youth band for two years and performed with them in jazz clubs around the city, as well as in Cuba.
About the Fulbright Scholar Program:
Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Fulbright Scholars are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Jay Mwamba
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jmwamba@ccny.cuny.edu