MPA Program at CCNY
Accurate, in-depth, and widely accessible information is vital for increasing access to housing, education, health care, voting, local history, and nonprofit development.
That was the unifying theme that the MPA Changemaker Scholars discovered in their recent end-of-semester roundtable discussion.
Changemaker Scholarships provide support to MPA students who wish to develop their skills as social change agents outside of class during the fall or spring semesters in one of three areas: management, research, or social innovation.
In the roundtable discussion, each scholar stood and gave a three-minute summary of their project, while a fellow scholar listened closely and drew a mind map representing the project.
The scholars then drew connections among their social impact goals and identified common themes in their projects.
Although every project emphasized the power of information as a tool for social change, each project sought to leverage information in a different way.
Sharing Information through Grassroots and Online Outlets
Antonio Lopez and Kate O’Phalen are seeking innovative ways that communities can increase knowledge and awareness about public health issues.
Lopez’s goal is to reduce HIV rates in Generation Z Latinx youth in the Bronx and Harlem. He is exploring storytelling and new public cultural programs as means to connect to this population and to create more culturally responsive sex education.
“I believe that storytelling can foster intergenerational communication within Latinx communities about the risks of HIV infection and the importance of fighting for our sexual rights,” Lopez explained.
O’Phalen is creating what she calls the ‘Yelp’ of maternal health providers to help expecting parents make informed choices, receive dignified treatment, and maintain control over their birth choices.
Motivated by her own experience becoming a parent, O’Phalen will continue developing this project next year as a Colin Powell Graduate Fellow.
Mobilizing to Change Legislation on Housing and Voting Rights
Information can also be a tool to mobilize political pressure and change legislation.
Elvin Garcia, who is part of the social innovation track of the Changemaker Scholarship, aims to improve voter registration and turnout in Council District 18 of the South Bronx by analyzing voter data and exploring creative voter engagement strategies.
“The social innovation experience re-wired my thinking from community organizer to strategic researcher,” Garcia said. “I was able to take a deeper dive into hypothesis testing and other ways to use data strategically to close the gap in civic engagement and make my community stronger.”
Garcia's fellow Changemaker Scholar, Felix Garcia, is working to educate communities, particularly those hit hardest by the affordable housing crisis, about the problematic formula for calculating Area Median Income (AMI), the basis of the city’s rent stabilization regulations.
Garcia's goal is to raise consciousness in order to strengthen advocacy efforts that will change the way rent is calculated for rent-stabilized units.
Improving Education and Nonprofit Services
Hafida Rasool has a background as a teacher and curriculum developer. She used her Changemaker Scholarship to assist with a research project aimed at identifying the most effective teacher training methods for elementary school literacy specialists.
As a research assistant, Rasool collaborated with various stakeholders, including academic researchers, literacy teachers, and school administrators.
“I learned how the different parts of the research project functioned together,” Rasool said. “And I was able to expand my skills in Excel, data visualization, and quantifying qualitative data.”
Luisa Germain also drew on her previous training and experience in her role as Resource and Business Development Intern at Good Counsel Services, a nonprofit that provides legal support, strategic marketing, and financial guidance to other nonprofits.
Trained as an attorney in her home country of Colombia, Germain used her Changemaker Scholarship to help Good Counsel Services develop relationships with funders and expand its grant portfolio.
“I met with many professionals in the nonprofit field and learned about their experiences with taking an idea for social change and making it a reality,” Germain said. “I also wrote many grant applications and learned to trust my own work, and I realized I have strong writing skills.”
Preserving Local History
City College is home to the Charles B. Rangel Archives, which document the former congressman’s 46 years of service to the Harlem community. Lorena Camacho’s Changemaker Scholarship allowed her to spend the semester helping to prepare the Rangel Archives for an upcoming public launch.
The archives will serve as a resource for researchers, students, and community members interested interested in Congressman Rangel’s career, which was embedded in many of the most pressing political issues of Harlem and the world over the last half-century.
The Changemaker Scholarship Program is a crucial part of the MPA Program's mission to increase access to public service careers by facilitating internships and other important career-building activities for aspiring social impact professionals.