Colin Powell legacy inspires $2.5M gift for new fellowship program at CCNY

The City College of New York’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership has received a $2.5 million gift from an admirer and long-time friend of the late General Colin L. Powell.  The transformative gift by the donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, establishes the Colin Powell Career Fellowship Program, which will fund internships and other student support services in the Colin Powell School.

Over time, the competitive program will be opened to all City College students, both undergrad and graduate, and later to the more than 250,000 students at the 25 campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. The Colin Powell School’s goal is to position the program as a national model and to join in partnership and coalition with other initiatives across the country that aim to diversify the workforce through the availability of paid internships and intensive mentoring and cohort-based programming.

One of CCNY’s most distinguished alumni, Gen. Powell (Class of 1958) died last October at age 84. He devoted more than 50 years of his life to public service in senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations.

"I'm incredibly moved by this gift," said Linda Powell, who chairs the Colin Powell School Board of Visitors. "My father was steadfast in his faith that when the education provided by City College is coupled with equality of opportunity, our students will go on to contribute great things to their communities and the world.  This generous support fits perfectly with that vision. What a beautiful way to honor his legacy."

“This transformative gift will provide significant financial support to our students,” said Colin Powell School Dean Andrew Rich. “Through the Colin Powell Career Fellows Program, we will scale our efforts to empower students, working with them to build their skills, grow their networks, navigate internship opportunities, and graduate with career-starting jobs.”
 
About the Colin Powell Career Fellowship Program
After Gen. Powell’s untimely passing last fall, his family encouraged those who wanted to honor his memory to support the Colin Powell School. The program’s donor reached out to Dean Rich to offer CPS students the opportunity to apply for the fellowship program at his company. By the end of their first conversation, he was inspired to make this transformative gift of $2.5m over 10 years. This will translate into 50-80 additional paid internship opportunities every year for a decade. The donor will also help the CPS identify employer-partners who can offer mentoring and internships to students and alumni. Beginning this summer, the program will offer Colin Powell Career Fellows selected through a competitive process an internship stipend of up to $5,000.  In addition, they will receive mentorship and participate in workshops and discussions that will enhance their abilities to engage with their work place in meaningful ways and provide opportunities for leadership development, reflection, and engaged learning. Career Fellows will be organized into cohorts, and will benefit from the Colin Powell School's track record of developing successful substantively-focused fellowship programs that tie education to professional development. This includes the School’s Honors Program in Legal Studies and its Climate Policy Fellows Program

About The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership
The Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. As the College's largest student division, the Colin Powell School's mission is to transform the nation's most diverse student body into tomorrow's global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; most come from lower-income backgrounds.

At 4,000 students and with a tradition of putting student professional development at the center of its work, the Colin Powell School is the right size and place from which to launch this effort to more intentionally help students connect the dots between their academic and their career development. The Colin Powell School can develop a program that is scalable and significant, as detailed in the attached program description document.

Remembering General Colin Powell's Legacy
General Colin L. Powell will be remembered as a man of extraordinary accomplishment: a trailblazer, a role model, and an inspiration. He was a proud son of City College, a person from humble origins who never forgot where he started. The son of Jamaican immigrants, born in Harlem and raised in the South Bronx, when it came to college, it was CCNY or nowhere, as he often reminded us. It was at CCNY that he found ROTC, and discovered his purpose and direction. He went on to greatness, but he never left this College behind. The Colin Powell School reflects his vision, his passion, and his never-ending belief in the essential nature of this place. He devoted enormous amounts of time and resources to the school.

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. 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 Emsi puts at $1.9 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 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.