Seeking to elevate the voices of students in our program, iMentor NYC is proud to engage the New York City Student Advisory Council (SAC), a group of student leaders from across New York City.
The more than a dozen members of the SAC, which was founded in 2017, provide a student perspective and serve as a conduit for ideas and contributions to iMentor’s program for college success. Students also take part in a series of professional development activities.
The SAC recently outlined its chief goal: to improve the community and student experience within iMentor by establishing a framework for SACs in other regions and connecting with other corporate partners.
“The Student Advisory Council is the biggest chance to have our voices heard,” said Mohamadou Dieng, a student at the Academy for Software Engineering.
Dieng and other SAC members will spend a day visiting Facebook in April 2019 in order to talk about their iMentor experience, participate in a professional development workshop, and hear from Facebook employees about their careers. As a way of gaining professional experience, SAC members are working on projects with a number of iMentor teams, including Volunteer Engagement, Research & Evaluation, and Development. Projects include helping create a proposal for a scholarship fund for undocumented students and creating content about the student experience for an upcoming iMentor board meeting.
“The Student Advisory Council was borne out of a desire for greater youth voice, empowerment, and elevation within our programming,” said Nariman Heikal, associate director of program at iMentor NYC.
Building the SAC in New York required all hands on deck, not to mention the support of senior leadership to ensure that we had the resources, sponsorship and financial support to engage and serve our students in a meaningful way, said Heikal.
