Introduction to the NYC Civic Innovation Fellowship Program

The Civic Innovation Fellowship is a unique opportunity for CUNY Service Corps fellows to learn all about NYC government, local communities, and how data and technology can help strengthen our City’s civic life. Being immersed in BetaNYC’s Civic Innovation Lab allows fellows to develop a deeper understanding of civic technology, data, design, and community engagement. For this year 2021 – our program consists of a 8 week program through which fellows will assist in various data and programing tasks for our newly elected officials throughout the city.

On November 8, 2021 we welcomed a special cohort of CUNY Service Corps fellows, on the heels of an immensely fraught year, who emerged with hope and enthusiasm. We have students hailing from Nassau County and Queens, both attending Queens College. Please meet these new two new fellows below!

Lizbeth Jima

I am a recent 2020 graduate from Queens College. I majored in Sociology and minored in Data Analytics. I continued to pursue my career by going after a master’s degree in Data Analytics at Queens College as well. I was born and raised in Queens, New York. I love being from Queens because we are so diverse and growing up and learning about other cultures has been cool. A fun fact about me is I have a twin sister and I love going to the gym. The gym has taught me that it is okay to fail as long as you try and keep going.

I am glad to be a part of the 8th cohort of the NYC Civic Innovation Fellowship program because it will help me advance in my career in Data Analytics by guiding me on how to use new programming languages and learn about new data. I am also excited about learning how to research and use the data to answer questions most important to society especially when it comes to NYC government and local communities.

Abdul Wahab

I am currently a junior at Queens College pursuing a degree in Computer Science. I was born in Pakistan but came to the United States at a young age when I was around one year old. Even though I came here at a young age, I have spent half my life here and half my life in Pakistan as my family has been going back and forth over the years. One fun fact about me is that I love road trips and traveling.

Over the years in college, I have been honored to experience many amazing internships and opportunities which have greatly improved my computer science skills. I have recently been honored to be a member of the eighth cohort of the civic innovation fellowship. I believe this opportunity would enable me to learn a lot as a young software engineer. As a computer science student, I have always been passionate to use my skills to give back to the community and help affect the lives of people. The reason I got into computer science was to eventually one day start an innovative startup or conduct technological research that could change how we perform daily activities and solve day-to-day issues. I believe that this opportunity at BetaNYC is the perfect opportunity for me to reach closer to my dreams and impact the lives of thousands of people out there. I am grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to this amazing experience as a civic innovation fellow.