I have the honor of serving as a Deputy Mayor in New York City today under the leadership of Mayor Bill de Blasio. He ran for office and governs on a vision of ending the tale of two cities; one city with quality housing, educational and employment opportunity, and full citizenship, and one city without.
His vision of ending this tale of two cities and building one New York City that works for all resonates with me deeply, because I experienced the two New York Cities in a very tangible way.
I grew up in East New York, Brooklyn. East New York is an amazing community, but one with significant challenges, especially as I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.
I had the opportunity to attend Stuyvesant High School. Stuyvesant is an amazing school and I made lifelong friends there. Yet, attending Stuyvesant was a very jarring experience. It was the first time I went to school with kids who were not mostly black and brown, and who didn't grow up in neighborhoods like Bushwick and Brownsville, East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Every day, I took the hour-long subway ride on the 3 and 4 trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan. And every day, I traveled between the two New York Cities. I watched kids from my neighborhood who were just as smart, just as talented and just as deserving as those at Stuyvesant get left behind again and again because they weren't afforded equal opportunities to thrive.
This marked me, and in time, I understood that it was my call to serve. I knew there must be something I could do to inspire more young people to dream big and feel those dreams were possible.
While studying at Harvard, I gathered some of my friends and we started a summer camp to work with students at a housing project in Roxbury, Massachusetts. We happily volunteered our time to provide young people there with guidance and friendship. We had a great time, we learned a lot and I believe we made a difference.
We found that all these students needed were opportunities and access. We visited museums, read books and explored the city together.
After law school, I wanted to build on my volunteer experience. And so began my career as a social entrepreneur. I founded two non-profits: iMentor, an organization that recruits volunteers to mentor New York City students on the path to college, and Groundwork, which supports students and families living in Brooklyn public housing. I'd go on to serve as president and CEO of the Children's Aid Society. In each organization, we relied on volunteers as well as AmeriCorps and VISTA members to deliver on our missions.
And here I am, tasked by my Mayor to uphold our commitment of making New York City the best big city in America to raise children.
Equipping our parents with the tools and resources they need; providing our four-year-olds with free, high-quality pre-K so they're on the path to life-long success; creating community schools; providing every middle school students in NYC with access to free, enriched after-school programs; ensuring that our diverse classrooms have diverse teachers; and helping our youngest fathers be ready for what lies ahead.
And it all started with volunteering.
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post and NYC Service, the latter of which is a division of the Office of the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio. NYC Service promotes volunteerism, engages New Yorkers in service, and mobilizes the power of volunteers and service year members to impact New York City's greatest needs. To learn more about NYC Service and volunteer opportunities in New York City, click here.