A cohort of Colin Powell School students with Gen. Colin L. Powell (1937-2021) during one of his visits to his alma mater.
The Teagle Foundation and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York announce a new fellowship program for undergraduate students to provide the tools and hands-on experience they need to become the next generation of civic leaders in New York City.
Through the New York City Leaders Fellowship, students will enroll in two liberal arts courses to learn about local political systems ahead of beginning an internship program in public service in New York City. The courses will provide a comprehensive overview of the history and operations of New York City’s government public service ecosystem. Additionally, students will read transformative texts by authors such as Aristotle and Machiavelli to discuss ethical dilemmas that are central to living in and governing a city.
After completing the liberal arts courses, the undergraduate students will pursue a fully-funded summer internship program in New York City government or non-governmental organizations.
“New York City is dynamic, diverse, and constantly evolving, and we are thrilled to support emerging leaders who seek to transform our community,” said Andrew Delbanco, President of the Teagle Foundation. “The New York Leaders Fellowship pairs career and professional development with a liberal arts education to give students the opportunity to engage with transformative texts to sharpen their knowledge and decision making skills to participate in political systems.”
The Teagle Foundation will provide $200,000 over 24 months to create and launch the New York City Leaders Fellowship. This fellowship aims to expand the foundation’s efforts to promote civic life in New York City and enhance educational opportunities to students from low-income backgrounds under their Education for American Civic Life initiative.
“For many students, the pathways to career-starting jobs in public service in New York City are confusing or opaque,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. “We need stronger systems of support to help young people from diverse backgrounds find their way to public service leadership in our city, and the New York City Leaders Fellowship provides just that–developing a new pipeline to prepare the next generation of civic leaders for our great city.”
In its first year, the fellowship will award 10 fellowships to outstanding undergraduate students; it will support twenty students annually in subsequent years. The New York City Leaders Fellowship will be directed by Andrew Rich, Dean of the Colin Powell School, as well as Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Professor of Political Science, and Maya Gutierrez, Director of the Colin Powell School’s Public Service Career Hub.
About The Teagle Foundation
The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education, which we see as fundamental to meaningful work, effective citizenship, and a fulfilling life. Our aim is to serve as a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education.
About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership
Established in April 2013, 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. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School 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. More than seventy percent are first-generation college students, and eighty percent are people of color. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations. Read more about the Colin Powell 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.