News
NYNY Announces the Community College Initiative
NYNY announces the Community College Initiative (CCI), the largest volunteer mobilization of its kind. Engaging New York City's prized university system and enlisting NYNY Mentor Coaches as co-instructors of a college success curriculum, the Initiative will ultimately lead thousands of young people who might otherwise have floundered without the right resources and support to Bachelor's Degrees and empowering careers.
The Chronicle of Higher Education calls community colleges the “fastest-growing segment of higher education” and an increasingly popular post-secondary entry point for high school graduates. However, attrition remains high, and eventual Bachelor’s Degree attainment low, largely because students choosing such a path receive inadequate guidance and positive reinforcement along the way. The Community College Initiative – an idea that originated with our Fellows – addresses the systematic lack of college persistence support and transfer advisement for community college students with Bachelor’s Degree aspirations. Community college students are among society's greatest yet least nurtured assets, and NYNY stands to define how support from outside the education sector can engender their success.
Joe Pinto joined the NYNY team this month as Vice President of the Community College Initiative, bringing start-up insight, education expertise, and a network of youth development partners from his experience as co-founder of the Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice and Executive Director of its non-profit arm. High-level planning conversations with the City University of New York (CUNY) proceed at a swift pace, with the goal of a pilot launch in the coming months on the campus of Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). NYNY’s Governing Board, Mentor Leadership Council, Young Leadership Board and the many entities they represent across corporate, non-profit and governmental lines provide a steady stream of advocacy, resource power and strategic thinking. In addition, NYNY is thrilled to announce a collaboration with Arbor Brothers, whose expertise will help sharpen the design and implementation processes of the CCI.
