Thank you to everyone who joined us for the “From Campus to Career: Leadership Insights For The Next Generation” alumni panel on Friday April 25th, 2025. It was an inspiring afternoon of reflection, insight, and inspiration, featuring a diverse group of alumni who generously shared their journeys and advice from their experiences while they were leaders in the CUNY Peer Leaders program (CPL) or earlier iterations of the program, and what has transpired on their journey’s academically and professionally since then.
The alumni session started with opening remarks from Lauren Melendez, Director of the CUNY Peer Leaders Program, and Academic Program Manager of the Futures initiative, welcoming everyone to the space and offering some framing information about the structure of the CPL program, our pedagogical practices and some insight into our panelists bios who would be presenting and which cohorts they were enrolled in during the program.
We began the talk with alumni panelist Estefany Marlen Gonzaga who participated in the Futures Initiative Peer Mentorship program during 2016-2017. She is an indigenous woman born in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, and whose family migrated to New York City in 1988. She was raised and resides in Queens, and is a first generation College graduate of her immediate family. Estefany is the Student Success Mentor Program Coordinator and Immigrant Student Liaison at LaGuardia Community College. With over a decade of experience in higher education, she focuses on the intersection of technology and student success. Estefany holds an Associate of Science in Business Administration from LaGuardia and a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Graphic Communication from Baruch College. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Digital Humanities here at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Estefany began her career as a mentor in the Student Success Mentors Program in 2014 and has since served as the program coordinator, aiding thousands of students in achieving their goals through digital media and mentorship. As the Immigrant Success Liaison, she shares vital resources like scholarship opportunities, legal resources, Red Cards, and more.
During Estefany’s talk entitled: “Mentorship Matters” she spoke about her life as a proud mother of two children, both in High School, and the challenges she endured and navigated as a young single mother and navigating her way into College and trying to find her footing in CUNY. She also spoke about how critical and vital mentorship is and having others like faculty and mentors who can help guide you and sometimes help see strengths in yourself that you may not know are present at the beginning of your academic journey.
Estefany mentioned the opportunities that she was able to seize being in the program which included presenting at the AAC&U’s “Diversity, Learning and Student Success” Conference in Orlando Florida in 2017, having an opportunity for her to be used as a graphic designer for the program where she was able to design materials for Futures Initiative Peer Mentorship program as well as design materials for Dr. Cathy N. Davidson’s “The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World In Flux” publication, was a student editor for the book published by the Futures Initiative entitled: “Structuring Equality: A Handbook for Student-Centered Learning and Teaching Practices” and created the design work for Lauren Melendez’s manifold publication and book entitled: “Exploring Leadership Program in Academia: A Case Study of Inclusion and Equity With a Social Justice Framework”. Estefany also shared her experiences during the pandemic with transitioning her program at LaGuardia to distance learning, the importance of her colleagues as a support system she had during that time that aided her in getting through those challenging times and spoke about being her being offered the opportunity by the Futures Initiative in 2024 to present during their University Worth Fighting for series talk entitled: “Parenting While Earning a Degree: Joys, Challenges, Strategies and Community” that took place at the Graduate Center. In April 2025, Estefany co-developed a professional development session for peer mentors to better support immigrant students. Dedicated to fostering inclusive learning environments, she continues to support the new majority of students, including student parents and immigrant students.
Next we had Brian Garrett Jr. who participated in the CUNY Peer Leaders program during 2022-2023. Brian is a Medgar Evers College CUNY graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public administration who aspires to become an attorney dedicated to public interest advocacy. He is currently attending Cornell University online working toward obtaining a degree certificate in Hemp Breeding in Genetics and is pursuing coursework to prepare him for the LSAT exam. His understanding of the importance of using his job to serve vulnerable populations towards an equitable end, a principle deeply ingrained in his social justice institution education, sets him apart. Brian is currently a paralegal at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, gaining practical experience and preparing for law school. His goal is to build a legal understanding to combat socio economic issues that affect most people. Brian aims to leverage his legal expertise to advance social justice, equity, and systemic reform. He seeks to address the needs of marginalized communities, navigate complex legal landscapes, and drive meaningful change for all in an egalitarian manner.
During Brian’s talk entitled: “Campus to Career: Leadership Insights for The Next Generation” he spoke about his experience in Medgar evers and it being an empowering environment that helped prepare him for the journey he is now on toward being a future lawyer. He spoke about his experience as a judicial intern for the Civil court of New York City, his current work as a paralegal at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and what he has learned taking on being a college student at the CUNY school of Law. Brian has been strategic with picking jobs that will help aid him on his path to law school and spoke on how fortunate he has been to make solid connections with established Judges, lawyers and others in the legal profession who have been able to help guide him and serve as mentors to him in learning the legal system and preparing for his LSAT exam.
While in the CUNY Peer Leaders program, Brian spoke on being able to participate at many of the bi-weekly meetings held over the course of the program in addition one session held on “Mind Body Mapping” that is an indigenous based/inspired practice of understanding the experiences of communities and peoples. Body-Mind Mapping aims to have participants ask themselves what their bodies are experiencing in forms of pain, pleasure, anxiety, and self-acknowledgement. This practice began within the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange in Edmonton and Psychosocial Support Initiatives in South Africa. Also Brian was chosen as one of the student panelists at the HASTAC Conference in 2023 “Critical Making in Social Justice” that took place at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn on a panel entitled: “Em(body)d Pedagogical Practices with the CUNY Peer Leaders: An Innovative Approach To Leadership Programs in Higher Education”. In closing, Brian spoke about other interests he is currently pursuing which includes a possible podcast, investment opportunities, and also possibly participating in the military as an Air Force Reserve. With Brian’s growing legal acumen, strategic advocacy, and unwavering dedication, he is positioned to make a lasting impact in public interest law for those in need and for many of the young men and women that will look to him for guidance and mentorship as he climbs into the spaces he is currently working hard to transition into.
Our next panelist was Steven “Flow” Pacheco, who participated in the CUNY Peer Leaders program during 2018-2019. Steven is a Bronx-bred entrepreneur, songwriter, producer, justice advocate, philanthropist, and a devoted follower of Christ. He is preparing to attend seminary school in the Fall semester as he completes his Bachelor’s degree at the end of the Spring 2025 semester at John Jay College (CUNY BA Program). Mr. Pacheco has been awarded various prestigious fellowships and delivered presentations at notable conferences, universities, and institutions across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Since his time as a CUNY undergraduate leader with the Futures Initiative program, he has been on two separate mission trips to Ghana with his church Thessalonia Worship Center in the Bronx to support under-resourced locals in the areas of sustainability, health, education, and faith.
During Steven’s talk entitled: “A Leader Off The Beaten Path” he captivated the audience with his wit and humor as he has the ability to work a room. Steven shared some insight into his background and personal life, being born in Dallas Texas, raised and currently residing in the Bronx, being the second oldest of four siblings and being a Black man who has roots in Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos. Steven spoke about challenges he faced from family pressures forcing him into a leadership role within his household at a young age. He experienced many different paths trying to figure out what he wanted to do and on that journey there were 3 defining moments that helped shape him into the man that stood before us that day which was being named a U.S. delegate for the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect program. The British Council is the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Founded in 1934, they are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. Steven was chosen in 2018 as part of 50 young people from around the globe as one of four winners from the USA who were chosen based on their vision for improving their country through policy and their potential to be a senior leader in the future.
The next defining moment with significance in Steven’s life was an opportunity with work he was able to do with “Project Morry” that has kids participating from the age of 11 to 17. Project Morry was founded in 1995, inspired by the vision of camping world hero, Morry Stein. Morry recognized the significant positive long-term impact camping had on the lives of the young people who attended his camp, “Echo Lake”, and believed this experience should be shared with children from all socioeconomic groups.
The third defining moment in Steven’s life was the mission work he did in Ghana, West Africa. He was able to do this work through his church Thessalonia Worship Center their non-profit “Chance 4 Life’. He was able to partner with local churches and communities in Ghana to share the love of Christ through service, discipleship, and cultural exchange.
During Steven’s time in the Futures Initiative Peer Mentorship program, he spoke about participating on a student panel in the HASTAC 2019 conference entitled: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” that took place in the Unceded Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Territory at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Also he participated on a Hip-Hop Pedagogy panel at the Graduate Center and was a participant at a talk hosted by the Futures Initiative entitled: “Culturally Relevant Inclusive Pedagogy in English Composition” panel. Once Steven completes his studies this Spring at John Jay College, he will be applying to seminary school programs that he hopes to begin later this year in the Fall. Through Steven’s work at his Church Thessalonia Worship Center he has found a deep and growing desire to serve God with greater understanding, humility, and faithfulness. Over the past several years, he has sensed a clear calling to theological study and ministry, developed out of both personal spiritual formation and a commitment to serve others through pastoral care, teaching, and discipleship.
Last but not least we had former CUNY Peer Leaders program Co-Director and alum Futures Initiative fellow, Dr. Kashema Hutchinson who presented her talk entitled: “Campus to Career: It Doesn’t Take a Whole Day to Recognize Sunshine”. Dr. Hutchinson is an interdisciplinary educator and creator. Her work is an alchemy of sources that values and highlights the knowledge production of Black youths usually through a Hip Hop lens. Kashema creates Hip Hop infographics to facilitate discussions about knowledge of self in various educational spaces including New York City correctional facilities and random ciphers. She teaches CUNY undergraduate and early college students. Kashema was a co-director of The CUNY Peer Leaders, a community-based program that supports CUNY undergraduate students’ scholarship and creative work in the Humanities and assists students in developing leadership skills to implement within their colleges and communities. She is an assistant editor of Blacklanguagesyllabus.com. Dr. Hutchinson also does educational consulting and evaluating.
Dr. Hutchinson’s inspiration that led her to pursue a PhD was inspired by Michaela Angela Davis and at first wanted to become a guidance counselor however, realized being an educator would serve her and others in a greater capacity. She also spoke about applying to graduate programs and not getting in at first but reapplied and was able to be accepted. She spoke about a very profound lesson on not giving up and learning how to pivot and try again when you really want something and are faced with rejection at first attempt. Dr.Hutchinson spoke on the importance of finding mentors and other faculty who can aid you in being a reference and can also help you with your materials when applying to programs, fellowships, jobs, etc.
Dr. Hutchinson was accepted into the Graduate Center in 2016, in Urban Education and was introduced to the Futures Initiative through a course she co-taught and was able to be accepted as a Futures Initiative fellow in 2017. It was at this time that she was able to work on the Futures Initiative Peer Mentorship program as a coordinator and was later promoted to Co-Director of CUNY Peer Leaders program when the Mellon grant began in 2021. Dr. Hutchinson described the Futures Initiative and the CPL program as diverse, non hierarchical, and a safe space where equity and innovation in higher education was the focus and student centered learning was an key feature. She also was able to participate on numerous panels, one of which was the HASTAC 2019 conference entitled: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education”, and created the Hip-Hop pedagogy panel in 2019 as well and also was able to give examples of the extraordinary mentoring opportunities she had access to her with the undergraduate students in the CPL program that she was able to experience in her role. Dr. Hutchinson also spoke about the family and lifelong connections she was able to create with her fellow graduate peers she worked alongside in the Futures Initiative and with CPL Director Lauren Melendez. Additional notable accomplishments Dr. Hutchison mentioned was her work as program manager at the Hip Hop Museum, Education Director, CCCADI, currently teaching at LaGuardia Community College, has experience and has implemented Curriculum Design in various learning spaces, Won an CLC Grant, Taught an 8-week Hip Hop literacy course, offers Educational Consulting and has embarked on Entrepreneurship opportunities and does speaking opportunities on her field of expertise as well.
We’re grateful to our alumni panelists for their time and candor, and to all attendees for the engaging questions and participation. Our current cohort of leaders were truly inspired and well informed by the Alumni’s insight and real world experience they were able to pay forward to them.
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
