Office of Student Success
Colin Powell Graduate Fellowship
The Colin Powell Graduate Fellowship in Leadership and Public Service is a one-year program that enables graduate students to use their developing academic expertise to address urgent social justice issues for African Americans and other underserved communities. Fellows work with a faculty or community sponsor to develop a thoughtful project that impacts the public. In addition, fellows attend seminars that meet regularly throughout the year, special events, and other professional development activities. applicant should be included. If applicable, sponsors should work in conjunction with the candidate to demonstrate that their project is in compliance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol and procedures. Sponsors must be willing to supervise the graduate fellow’s work throughout the year, providing guidance and suggesting relevant resources or skill-building tools as necessary. Sponsors may not offer support for more than one applicant per academic year.
Program Contact
Fellowships and Student Success Program Coordinator
Christine Garmendiz
- NAC 6/288
- Contact Christine
Program Contact
Director of Fellowship Programs & Office of Student Success
Debbie Cheng
- NAC 4/134
- Contact Debbie
Sponsorship
Prior to applying for the fellowship, students must secure a sponsor, identify a specific project, and work in conjunction with their sponsor to create a realistic and thoughtful work plan for the year. Sponsors may be a faculty member at City College or at the CUNY Graduate Center, or a professional in a leadership role at a nonprofit organization or government agency. If the project is already underway, a clear description of the roles and responsibilities to be carried out by the applicant should be included. If applicable, sponsors should work in conjunction with the candidate to demonstrate that their project is in compliance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol and procedures. Sponsors must be willing to supervise the graduate fellow’s work throughout the year, providing guidance and suggesting relevant resources or skill-building tools as necessary. Sponsors may not offer support for more than one applicant per academic year.
Support
Each fellow will receive a maximum of $12,000 for the academic year.
Project
Fellows may decide, in conjunction with their sponsor, to pursue a project of their own creation, or assist their sponsor in an ongoing, established research project. Students can choose to design and execute an independent study of a particular social phenomenon, serve as a research associate for a community-based organization, or carry out predetermined responsibilities for a faculty-sponsored project that is already underway. All projects must address social justice issues impacting African Americans and other underserved populations.
Project Proposal
Please describe the project you hope to complete during the course of the fellowship. Your project proposal should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words and include the following:
- A clear rationale for why you have chosen to pursue this project and how it might serve to further the conversation on a pressing social justice issue and/or impact an underserved community;
- A draft outline of your proposed work plan, including a discussion of deliverables and outcomes;
- Whether your sponsor is a faculty member or a professional in a leadership role at a nonprofit organization or government agency;
- Whether the project is part of established, ongoing research or newly created.
Eligibility
Applicants for the 2023-2024 fellowship:
- must be a full-time student from Fall 2023 to Spring 2024 enrolled in one of the graduate programs offered through the Colin Powell School
- have no GPA or citizenship requirement
- must submit a project proposal and two recommendation letters, including one from a faculty or community sponsor
All applications must be submitted by 5 pm on Feb. 28, 2023. Please submit all your materials, with the exception of the recommendation letters, through the application form. Advise your recommender to email their letters to cpsfellowships@gmail.com by Feb. 28. We will confirm that we have received your application two to four weeks after submission.
2022-2023 Colin Powell Graduate Fellows
Alexis Brown
Alexis Brown is a fourth-year Doctoral Candidate in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at CCNY. She was born and raised in South Central, Los Angeles. Witnessing and experiencing racial and socioeconomic divides was formative in igniting her passion for social justice research and starting her commitment to serving marginalized populations. She completed her BA in psychology with a literature minor from the University of California Santa Cruz. During her time there, she conducted research on racial and ethnic microaggressions and the impact they have on college students in PWIs. Her senior thesis was on mass incarceration and the ways it’s impacted the African American community. Her current research looks at the psychological outcomes that police brutality has on Black Youth at the individual and community level. She hopes to work as a Prison Psychologist and provide multicultural trauma-informed care to incarcerated people. In addition, Alexis is a spoken word poet and enjoys acrylic painting outside of academia.
Marvin Antebi-Gruszka
Marvin Antebi-Gruszka is a second-year graduate student in the Mental Health Counseling Masters Program at the Colin Powell School. After receiving his Bachelors in Environmental Engineering and English Literature from Columbia University and Masters in Education from Brooklyn College in Education, he worked at high-needs NYCDOE schools for 15 years as a science, health, and language instructor a student support specialist. Through his work in public schools, Marvin is passionate about enriching the lives of vulnerable young people and their families through mental health support in educational settings. Marvin looks forward to standing at the intersection of education and mental health by providing counseling services to school communities and engaging staff, students, and families in supporting and strengthening each other’s mental health.
Talia Schulder
Talia Schulder is a third-year doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at CCNY. Talia received a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and became passionate about urban mental health equity through her experiences growing up in New York City and living in Baltimore. She previously researched to increase the usage of a qualitative self-affirming clinical scale for low-income individuals with chronic illness in the Bronx. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Talia has helped gather and disseminate data on the mental health of CUNY students and has documented how economic oppression, social isolation, and racism contribute to psychological suffering. As a fellow, Talia will work collaboratively with local organizers and communities to plan further research protocols and help increase access to therapeutic interventions.
Nishanthi Anthonipillai
Nishanthi Anthonipillai is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at CCNY. She received her bachelor’s degrees in theater and psychology at the College of The Holy Cross before coming back to New York City to pursue her Master’s degree in psychology at CCNY. Here, she learned to love research, assisting in projects ranging from the exploration of neurophysiological markers of concussions to understanding the moderating effects of emotional intelligence and self-esteem on the relationship between racial microaggressions and depression, anxiety and stress. Her current research explores the similarities and differences in emotional regulation between languages, within bilingual individuals.
Ryan Walsh
Ryan Walsh is a graduate student pursuing a master’s in international affairs. He holds a Masters in Historic Preservation from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in environmental design from Texas A&M University. Ryan has taught historic preservation in the NYC public school system for the past seven years, where he worked in partnership with the National Parks Service to develop a curriculum for an introductory course in historic preservation. Ryan’s goal in teaching preservation is to expand access to the field and help his students develop the capacity to advocate for the preservation of their stories and the architecture of their neighborhoods. For Ryan, historic preservation is a social justice issue. The architecture we preserve, and its related stories, should reflect the diversity of New York City and, on a larger scale, the world. As a fellow, Ryan will explore the intersection of social justice issues, historic preservation, and the international system through a series of didactic picture books written and illustrated to engage children and adults in meaningful dialogue and reflection.
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