Category Archives: Your Stories
Read Ahead Mentor
By Bronwyn Knox, Operations Manager for CAA Marketing & Digital Initiatives I joined the Read Ahead a number of years ago and have returned year after year, happy to share my time and energy for this particular volunteer program. I … Continue reading →
Advocating for Education
Gretchen D. Knudsen, Associate Director of Development at the School of Social Work I’m a mother raising a 12 year-old in NYC. I believe all kids deserve a great education like the one my child receives at a public charter … Continue reading →
Marching Against Injustices
Donna J. Wall, Assistant Director of Foundation & Corporate Relations at the School of Nursing I am not a religious person. But when a friend took me to Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village on Easter Sunday 2017, I … Continue reading →
My Read Ahead Experience
By Gwynne Gauntlett, Director of Digital Marketing Initiatives It’s often been said that the most valuable thing we can give is our time. As a busy parent of two, in my experience no truer words have been spoken. Does anything … Continue reading →
Providing Free Eye Care to the Needy
By Sally Lee, Editor-in-Chief of Columbia Magazine Every year, for the last ten years, I’ve volunteered with a group of eye doctors to bring medical services to the town of San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Working with Volunteer Optometric Services to … Continue reading →
Addressing the Injustice of Bail
By Brian Chapman, DVP for Analytics and Business Strategy I’m Taking a Stand to address a major problem in the criminal justice system: how bail works. A few years ago, I read a story about a young man from the … Continue reading →
Taking Action Gives Hope
By Janet West, Director of Faculty Foundation Relations Taking action gives hope and I needed to build some hope after the election of 2016. I was especially distressed about our nation’s (mis)treatment of those seeking asylum in the US from … Continue reading →
Giving Back to Ghana
By Kofi A. Dankwah, Assistant Director for Financial Management and Planning Due to the hardship I endured during my childhood days, it has always been my wish to give back to the community I left back home. With that in … Continue reading →
Supporting Survivors
By Connelly Stokes-Buckles, AFP Senior Associate Director I’m taking a stand for supporting survivors…ridiculous costumes and all! Each December, I participate in the Hot Chocolate Run, a 5K in my community that raises money for Safe Passage. Safe Passage is … Continue reading →
My Journey as a Mentor
By Nicole Larkins, EA for the DVP for Administration At a very young age, I learned what it meant to be part of a majority of young people who lack strong role models due to home circumstances, uncontrollable environmental forces, … Continue reading →
