The City Year Alumni Leadership Awards recognize outstanding alums who have continued their commitment to service, and have demonstrated extraordinary achievement, contribution, and/or commiitment to working towards social justice and building stronger communities.
Celebrate our 2023 Honorees!
We were delighted to gather in Boston on February 8, 2024 to honor Dustin LaFont, Derek Qiu, and Macey Amissah-McKinney with 2023 City Year Alumni Leadership Awards, presented by Truist!
Meet our award winners
Since 1995, more than 125 alums have been honored with the Alumni Leadership Award β City Yearβs most prestigious alumni recognition. These awards honor the accomplishments of City Year alums who continue to build stronger communities through innovative approaches and addressing critical social problems.
Award honorees 1995-2023
2023
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Derek Qiu (New York ’19)
Consultant at Deloitte
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
Dustin LaFont (Baton Rouge ’11)
Founder and Executive Director of Front Yard Bikes
Alumni Achievement Award
Macey Amissah-McKinney (Sacramento ’13, ’14)
Senior vice president and executive director at City Year Sacramento
Staff Alumni Impact Award
2022
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Cadence Pentheny (New Hampshire β17, β18)
Community educator at Triangle Community Center
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
Yvonne Garcia (San Antonio β08)
Award-winning teacher at IDEA Public Schools
Alumni Achievement Award
Michael Stevens (Baton Rouge ’06)
Senior vice president and executive director at City Year Washington, D.C.
Staff Alumni Impact Award
Nicole Tsang (New York β07)
Senior director of enterprise improvement at City Year
Staff Alumni Impact Award
2021
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Emerald Anderson-Ford (New Hampshire β09, β10)
Equity specialist at City Year; Founder and owner of Communities Reaching for Equity and Diversity
Kevin Dua (Boston β10, β11)
Award-winning history teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Dre Thomas (Los Angeles β11, New York β12)
Founder and CEO of Smile on Me
2019
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Matthew Axelrod (Boston ’88)
Partner at Linklaters LLP
Robert Barnett (Seattle/King County β10)
Co-founder and chief operating officer of The Modern Classrooms Project
Imran Siddiquee (San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β08)
Communications director at MediaJustice; Collaborator at South Asian American Digital Archive in Philadelphia
Laura Toni-Holsinger (Boston β04)
Executive director at United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
Alissa Ziemianski (Cleveland β99, Seattle/King County β00)
Operations and marketing director at Chico Natural Food Cooperative
2018
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Beth Bryant (Boston β04)
Vice president, strategy at City Year
Maggie P. Chang (New York β07)
Co-founder, art director and producer at Rising Earth: Human Impact Education; Co-founder and program director at Orange Giraffe Project
Michael Mandel (Chicago β97)
Immigration lawyer at Kauff, McGuire & Margolis, LLP; Co-chair of the advocacy/media committee at American Immigration Lawyers Associationβs New York chapter
Jay Patel (New York β10)
Co-founder and vice president at Village Energy
Melissa Urbain (San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β06)
Language arts teacher and instructional coach at San JosΓ© Unified School District; Representative of California Teachers Association State Council
2017
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Beth Marco Bayouth (Chicago β02)
Director of strategy and development at Big Citizen HUB
Dan Foley (New York β09, β10)
Vice president and executive director at City Year Jacksonville
Brent Holsinger (Boston β04)
Founder and president of On the Road Collaborative
Mubarak Lawrence (Philadelphia β11)
Co-founder and vice president of Rising Sons, Inc.
Alex Peay (Philadelphia β10, β11)
Founder and president of Rising Sons, Inc.
Whitney Parnell (Washington, D.C. β11, β12)
Co-founder and CEO of Service Never Sleeps
2016
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Rahn Dorsey (Boston β90)
Chief of education at City of Boston
Jade Elias (New York β07)
Chief program officer at Red Hook Initiative
Bethiel Girma Holton (Boston β06, β07)
National director of student engagement at City Year
Gina Massuda Barnett (Chicago β97)
Chronic disease prevention and health promotion unit director at Cook County Department of Public Health
Chris Osgood (Boston β95)
Chief of streets for City of Boston
2015
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Dr. Hyung “Harry” Cho (Greater Philadelphia β03)
Director of quality and patient safety at Mount Sinai Hospital
Jeff Lafata (Boston β00, β01)
Founder and executive director of Empowering People for Inclusive Communities (EPIC)
Marion Mollegen McFadden (Columbus β95)
Deputy assistant secretary for grant programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Kate Morgan (Greater Philadelphia β07, Care Force β08)
Head of corporate social responsibility, North America for SAP
Davier Rodriguez (San Antonio β10)
Co-founder and coordinator of DREAMzone at Arizona State University
2014
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Alen Amini (Columbus β10)
Dean of ΜμΓΐΣ°ΤΊ at Lakeside High School
Thea DeRosa (Columbia β01, β02)
Vice president of programs at Cleveland Foodbank
Anuj Gupta (Boston β97)
Executive director at Mt. Airy USA
Laura Hamm (New York β05, β06)
Executive director at City Year Baton Rouge
Sean McDevitt (Boston β02)
Senior director of alumni and career services at City Year
Jay Thompson (Philadelphia β03)
Senior director of new site operations at City Year
2013
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Angel Charles (Boston β97)
Principal of Dennis C. Haley Pilot Elementary School
George Deveney (Greater Philadelphia β03)
Senior director of new site development at City Year
Mario Fedelin (San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β04, Greater Philadelphia β05)
Program director at City Year Los Angeles
Aaron Marquez (Boston β03, β04)
First Lieutenant of United States Army Reserve; Co-founder of ServeNext
Alejandra St. Guillen (Boston β96)
Executive director at ΒΏOiste?
2012
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Christina Cotto (Rhode Island β01, β02)
Program director at City Year Rhode Island
David Hureau (Boston β98)
Lead designer and manager at StreetSafe Boston; Co-founder of Villages Without Walls
Molly Ola Pinney (Seattle/King County β01)
Founder and CEO of Global Autism Project
Katie Provencher (Boston β04)
Director of community engagement at Urban Edge
Matthew Stahl (Boston β98)
Principal of Pawtucketville Memorial Elementary School
2011
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Tina Fernandes (Washington, D.C. β02, β03)
Program director at City Year Washington, D.C.
Melissa Kim (Chicago β00)
Director at North 5th Street Revitilization Project
Seth Marbin (Seattle β99)
Human resources business partner at Social Responsibility, Google, Inc.
Sherry Mattson Noud (Boston β95)
Social worker/homeless services at Fairfax County Public Schools
Meghan Trombly (Seattle β03)
Director of program operations at Strong Women, Strong Girls
2010
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Alison Coleman-Hardy (Boston β92)
Director, homelessness prevention programs at City Mission Society
Andrew Fairbairn (Boston β92)
Founder and director of SEO London
Zach Maurin (Boston β03)
Co-founder and executive director of ServeNext
Jason Waite (Columbus β01)
Director of service impact at City Year – leading and deploying Whole School Whole Child service model
Eric Wobser (Cleveland β02)
Executive director at Near West Community Development Corporation
2009
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Sean Shirley-Davidson (Chicago β95)
Education reform leader at Neighborhood House Charter School
Sara O’Brien (Columbus β95)
Entrepreneur and community activist at BreastFest and Tyanna Barre O’Brien Breast Cancer Foundation
Neil Batiancila (Greater Philadelphia β00)
National service leader and innovator at City Year Greater Philadelphia
Emily Cherniack (Boston β01)
Coalition builder and community organizer at Be The Change, Inc.
Nicole Yongue (Boston β05, β06)
City Heroes program innovator and youth activist
2008
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Toby Chalberg (San Antonio β99)
National service leader at AmeriCorps Alums
Chris Corneille (Greater Philadelphia β00)
City Heroes program innovator and developer at City Year
Tony Jordan (Columbia β93)
Founder and chief visionary officer of AWOL, Inc.
Adero Robinson (Columbus β96)
Youth development specialist at United Way of Central Ohio
Kyle Wedberg (Boston β97)
Education leader at Recovery School District of New Orleans
2007
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Jennifer Jarrell (Greater Philadelphia β99, β00)
Co-founder and program director of Indian Valley Boys & Girls Club
Elizabeth Nielsen (Greater Philadelphia β98, San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β99)
Mentor and service program innovator at City Year San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley
Tondalaya Shepard-Turner (Boston β94)
Director of community service at Mount Sinai Health System
Rachel Solotaroff, M.D. (Rhode Island β94)
Medical director at Central City Concern Health Services
Chi Tschang (Rhode Island β99)
Founding principal of KIPP Academy Fresno
2006
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David Bredhoff (New York β05)
Co-director at Sudan Freedom Walk
Noelle Celeste (Boston β93)
Community activist at Children First of Cleveland and Summer on the Cuyahoga
Monica Eav (Greater Philadelphia β01, β02)
Advocate of immigrant and international human rights
Veronica Nyhan Jones (Boston β88)
Organizer at Wold Bank Conference on Poverty and Exclusion of Roma People
Sarah Roberson (San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β97)
Leader and founder of City Year Little Rock
2005
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Christopher Brown (Boston β00)
Innovator and mentor at City Year and NFTE Incubator Program
Wyneshia Foxworth (Greater Philadelphia β97, β98)
Leader and mentor at City Year Greater Philadelphia
Steve Ginsburg (Boston β95)
Co-founder of HartBeat Ensemble
Eliza Goodwin (Rhode Island β95)
Executive director and community organizer at Southside Family School
Christopher Murphy (Boston β88)
Founding executive director of City Year Washington, D.C.
2004
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Lourdes Barroso (Columbus β95)
Leader at City Year start-up team with four sites
Debra-Ellen Glickstein (Boston β97)
Community organizer at New York City’s National Service Day
Rebeca Nieves Huffman (Chicago β98)
President at Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options
Hamilton Simons-Jones (Boston β97)
Director of community services coordination at Tulane University
Owen Stearns (Boston β90)
Founding board member of Excel Academy Charter School
2003
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Karilyn Crockett (Boston β93)
Co-founder of MYTOWN
Kelly Dura (Greater Philadelphia β99)
Developer at Leadership Curriculum
Mark Payne (Chicago β96)
Community organizer at Near-West Side Community Development Corporation
J. Carrie Oelberger (Boston β94)
Founder of Jifunze Project
2002
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Michael Elliott (San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley β99)
Advocate at Quality Health Care in Santa Clara County
Sean Holleran (Boston β95)
Deputy director at City Year Greater Philadelphia
Jamella Lee (Columbus β99)
Leader of piloting City Year’s Clinton Democracy Fellowship program
Ted Marquis (Boston β95)
Director, Care Force at City Year’s Corporate Day Service Model
Steve Stevenson (Boston β94)
Founder of Off the Streets, Gang Outreach Program
2001
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Tiffany Chiang (Chicago β95)
Founder of GirlWorld
Elliott Epps (Columbia β95)
Educator and leader at South Carolina Race Relations
Brendan Hughes (Boston β94)
Founding director of Peabody Theatre Cooperative
Miguel Quinones (Boston β97)
Community activist and mentor
2000
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Jim Allen (Boston β93)
Developer of City Year’s national technical infrastructure
LaTonya Brown (Boston β94)
Developer of City Year’s first evening service program
Bernadette Limosnero (San JosΓ© β96)
Leader of national City Year program
Debie Parker (Columbia β96)
Leader and activist at City Year and Democracy Compact
Sarah Price (Chicago β96)
Advocate for the rights of children experiencing homelessness
1999
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Deb Berman (Boston β96)
Co-founder and executive director of Camp Starfish
Steve Burritt (Boston β97)
Developer of middle school drug prevention curriculum
Jenny Gray (Boston β93)
Community activist at partnering community organizations
Saskia Grinberg (Boston β92)
Child advocate at Home for Little Wanderers
Albert Moy (Boston β96)
Co-founder of Hands Across Generations in the Asian Community
1998
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Jim Balfanz (Boston β94)
Founding co-executive director of City Year Greater Philadelphia
Taj Mustapha (Boston β92)
Co-founder of At The Crossroads
Kelly Overton (Columbia β95)
Director at Youth Voice Radio: On-Air Youth Service Programs
Chris Smith (Rhode Island β94)
Founder of Geneva Heroes
Renee West (Boston β92)
Mentor and role model of City Year AmeriCorps members
1997
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Christine Bader (Rhode Island β94)
Developer at Phillips Academy Andover Community Service Program
Phil Clawson (Boston β94)
Activist, commitment to strengthening community relations
Susie Margolin (Columbia β95)
Founder of Blackfeet Youth Initiative
Kadi Tierney (Boston β91)
Founding executive director of City Year Cleveland
Bonnie Villegas (Boston β93)
Developer at Peace at Home Domestic Violence Curriculum
1996
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Jay Kim (Boston β93)
National leader and developer at Public Allies
Chad Olcott (Boston β91)
Founding executive director of City Year Rhode Island
Maritza Rosario (Boston β94)
Leader at Kaboom
James Willie (Boston β88)
Champion of national service learning organizations and initiatives
1995
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Spencer Blasdale (Boston β88)
Leader of City Year Chicago start-up team
Marilyn Concepcion (Rhode Island β94)
National spokesperson for national service
Nicole Fyvie (Boston β93)
Developer of City Yearβs HIV/AIDS curriculum and Red Cross partnership
Stephen Spaloss (Boston β91)
Leader of City Year Rhode Island, City Year San JosΓ©/Silicon Valley and City Year Philadelphia start-up teams
Andre Thomas (Boston β92)
Developer of City Yearβs violence prevention curriculum
Please contact Laura Kazanovicz, senior director of national alumni impact, at lkazanovicz@cityyear.org with any questions.
2023 City Year Alumni Leadership Awards
In 2023, we were thrilled to recognize three outstanding alums who have continued their commitment to service, and have demonstrated extraordinary achievement, contribution, and/or commitment to working towards social justice, and building stronger communities.
Read about our 2023 honorees RSVP for the awards presentation