After 14 years as a fundraiser for public health programs, Frank Jefferson wanted to be a public health leader. Saying he owes his success to CUNY Baccalaureate, his degree included research into the public health challenges in sexual minority communities. He will continue his work at Columbia’s School of Public Health.

Kayhan Irani considers herself an “artivist,” fusing theater with activism and social change to activate audiences and transform society. Her co-edited volume, Telling Stories to Change the World: Global Voices on the Power of Stories to Build Community and make Social Justice Claims, was released by Routledge in 2008.

Career-changer K. Daya Bill created her Area of Concentration working with Hunter College Professor Hongmian Gong, Geography; now working in the field, she’s headed to Rutgers University for a Master’s in City and Regional Planning.

Azriel Relph was born in a trailer with no electricity, and raised on government cheese and hand-me-downs. Now, with his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations/Journalism from CUNY Baccalaureate, this award-winning student has traveled around the world and will attend the CUNY School of Journalism in Fall 2009.

Keisha Toms’ degree in Cross Cultural Studies paved the way for a year of research in Yemen as a Fulbright Fellow. Since her return, she has been pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Diane Gibson started—and stopped—college in 1965; she returned in 1991. Taking one course every semester, she graduated in June 2009. Her goal: to work as a case worker with young felons, ex-offenders incarcerated in the mental health system and/or the developmentally disabled.

Guiseppina Di Lena’s mother never learned to read or write and her father never finished the fourth grade, yet she became a voracious reader. After winning money on an Italian TV game show, she moved to NYC and after her 40th birthday enrolled in CUNY. With her B.A. complete, she hopes to become a children’s librarian.

Rachel Klapper, a student in both CUNY Baccalaureate and Macaulay Honors College, says she has been “deeply affected by CUNY BA/BS’s interdisciplinary academic mission.” In fact, she will next attend the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) at Herzliya in Israel to study Government and Counter-Terrorism.

Charles Greene, formerly incarcerated for 15 years under New York’s Rockefeller laws, is now a Case Worker in the Young Fathers Program at Claremont Neighborhood Centers, Inc. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree, he received a raise and promotion. Charles has been accepted to the Hunter College School of Social Work.

Saying “The global African Diaspora is a beautiful thing, worthy of study in all of its glory and sorrow,” Easter Wood designed her unique concentration with courses from Baruch, City and Hunter Colleges, under the direction of Professor Jo-Ann Hamilton, English, City College.

Clint Porter is the first CUNY undergraduate to earn a diploma in renewable energy. His area combined courses in physics, calculus, environmental policy and environmental chemistry from Baruch, City, and Hunter, as well as three independent studies and two internships.

Jackie Mariano is a Filipino-American woman born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens; she lives in the most diverse borough of New York City and goes to one of the most diverse colleges in the United States. Matters of race and identity are deeply important to her.