Ladders for Tomorrow’s Leaders
The Ladders for Leaders program is a nationally recognized innovative career readiness program run by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development. It offers high school and college students summer internship opportunities in some of the most dynamic non-profits, corporations, and businesses in New York City.
Students in the program gain firsthand experience in different workplace settings CMMB has proudly engaged in this six-week program for several years, providing unique opportunities for participants to explore their interests and prepare for future careers. Learn more about our 2017 Ladders for Leaders!
Meet Future Leaders and World Changers
Name: Sabina Dorvile
Home: Brooklyn, NY
Role: Volunteer program intern
Interesting Facts: I speak three languages; Haitian Creole, French, and English. I love traveling and binge-watching TV shows. My goal is to become a surgeon.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? Coming to CMMB was one of the best decisions that I have made. I hope to gain more experience working with a team, broadening my horizons, and networking. Additionally, I hope to learn more about global health issues, and more specifically the issues affecting the five countries where CMMB works.
What is your hope for the future? My hope for the future is to attend a great medical school in order to become a surgeon. This has been my hope for a long time now. I have witnessed many people suffering in my home country from injuries and diseases. I want to help alleviate their suffering.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Michelle Obama.
Name: Priya Singh
Home: Staten Island, NY
Role: Administration intern
Interesting Facts: I love fencing and playing volleyball. I am also the secretary of the student organization in my school. I love to draw and spend time with my family or friends during my free time. I want to major in biology in college and I aspire to become a doctor.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to learn important skills as an intern that I could use in the future and I want go out of my comfort zone. At CMMB, I am doing something I have never done before, such as transferring phone calls to the appropriate party or sorting out donations received in the mail. By completing these tasks, I feel like I am broadening my horizons, even though these tasks may seem simple.
What is your hope for the future? In fifth grade, I completed an online, interactive brain tumor surgery on an old woman and I was enthralled by the entire process. It was similar to excavating in a mine to locate gold. Although tumors are often perceived as a negative element, once that tumor is “excavated” or removed, the sense of achievement is experienced through the patient’s smile (the true “gold”). If physicians and surgeons have the ability to bring a smile upon someone’s face, then there is no greater job for me. I hope to combine my love of science and medicine in the future by becoming a surgeon.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Why? If I was on a transatlantic flight, I would most like to be stuck with Malala Yousafzai. Malala is the youngest girl to ever receive a Nobel Peace Prize because she fought for her right to an education when everyone else was silenced. When the Taliban invaded her home in Pakistan, education for girls became prohibited. Malala fought against this with her father, but was shot. She almost lost her life, but millions of people around the world prayed for her and she survived. Malala continues to fight for education and I respect her bravery, determination, and fortitude.
Name: Iman Mohammed
Home: Ghana
Role: Partnership intern
Interesting Facts: I like yoga. I can do a crow pose. I am also the oldest of ten kids in my family. I also really like Korean drama and pop music.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to learn more about the requirements and processes people go through to be able to volunteer in the field. I dream of volunteering as a physician in a developing country. One of my main hopes while I am here is to learn how the volunteer program works.
I want to get my master’s in public health because I want to be involved in global health policy. With the work CMMB does around the world it seems like a good fit. I hope that by the end of my volunteer experience at CMMB, that I be even more motivated in my career path.
What is your hope for the future? I want to become a pediatrician and also get my master’s in public health. I would also like to volunteer in developing countries to improve child and adolescent health.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Why? I would say Oprah Winfrey, because I just love her. I love her confidence and good heart. She is always willing to help when she can. I would love to have her sense of confidence and kindness. It would be great to sit and talk with her.
Name: Milana Zakirova
Home: Queens, NY
Role:Healing Help intern
Interesting Facts: I can speak three languages; Uzbek, Russian, and English. My hobbies include sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, and swimming. I also enjoy reading, photography, painting, and sleeping.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to be able to help this organization as much as possible.
What is your hope for the future? I hope that I graduate from school with a high GPA and will be able to attend a good university.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Why? I would love to be stuck on a transatlantic flight with Barack Obama. He is the coolest person ever and contributed so much to bettering our nation and the world. I can honestly say I believe he is best president in the history of the United States. I would add Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln to that list as well.
Name: Diana Alonzo
Home: Queens, NY
Role:Program intern
Interesting Facts: I’m the only one out of four sisters who doesn’t know how to ride a bike and is left-handed.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to gain insight into how an NGO works and have a better understanding of how things like awareness can help an individual so much.
What is your hope for the future? World peace.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Why? My three year old niece, she knows how to keep me entertained.
Name: April Simmons
Home: Brooklyn, NY
Role: Strategy and innovation intern
Interesting Facts: I love trapeze flying and I enjoy spending some of my free time at school working with the Choice Program as a mentor to underserved youth in the Baltimore community.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to make a meaningful difference to the women and children that the organization serves. I also hope to gain a better understanding of what the women and children go through on a daily basis in the countries that CMMB works.
What is your hope for the future? My hope for the future is that both here at home in America, and across the world, injustice and inequality will come to an end.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? Why? If I was stuck on a transatlantic flight I would want to be stuck with either Kevin Hart or Wanda Sykes because I think I’d have no choice but to laugh my fear and anxiety away.
Name: Jeanette Lew
Home: Bayside, Queens
Role: Partnership and Programs intern
Interesting Facts: I used to be a gymnast.
What do you hope to get from your time at CMMB? I hope to learn more about the inner workings of the organization as well as the processes involved in providing quality healthcare for communities in need around the world.
What is your hope for the future? I hope that countries will learn to communicate better with one another instead of fighting.
Who would you most like to be stuck with on a transatlantic flight? why? I would most like to be stuck with Andrew Zimmerman during a transatlantic flight so we could have a very thorough conversation about the best restaurants in every country.