COLIN POWELL SCHOOL
Student and Alumni Success LOOKING AHEAD AND GIVING BACK
STUDENT AND ALUMNI SUCCESS
SHAWN CHIN-CHANCE ’05
THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
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Chin-Chance is giving back to the Colin Powell School with his dedication to connecting alumni with current students. Together they are building a rich and dynamic network of matchmakers.
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In 2005, when Shawn Chin-Chance graduated from CCNY with a major in Political Science, the Colin Powell School did not exist. There was no alumni network with whom grads from his department could communicate to explore next steps in their careers. Fast forward to 2019 and Shawn ChinChance is President of the Political Science Affiliate of the CCNY Alumni Association and Secretary of the Board for the Association. To honor a growing network of CCNY graduates from the Colin Powell School, the Alumni Association’s Political Science affiliate recognizes recent graduates five years out from the Colin Powell School who are paving a trail for others to follow with the Rising Star award. They also honor the CPS alumni who graduated 10 or more years ago and have made a significant impact in either the public or private sector with the Professional Achievement Award. In addition, in honor of New York City’s first African American Deputy Mayor and a CCNY alumnus, the political science affiliate honors alumni who had a major influence on city or state public policy with the Paul Gibson Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award in Public Service. Both the Political Science Affiliate and the CCNY Alumni Association are working hard to make specific connections to current students to offer mentoring and next steps advice. These matchmaking connections, according to Chin-Chance, are more important in the early career development of recent
graduates than some of their efforts to make money. The goal is to support and nurture our recent graduates’ careers so that they might later be inspired to give back in support of their alma mater. At the time of Chin-Chance’s graduation, Dean Rich was ChinChance’s Political Science professor and CCNY President Boudreau was the chairman of the Political Science Department and Director of the Colin Powell School Center for Policy Studies. Chin-Chance speaks fondly of late night discussions he and a group of other Political Science students had with their faculty, including Professors Rich, Boudreau, Krinsky, and Berman. The faculty offered them strong encouragement and support in their future careers, especially in areas of engagement with community organizations where they could develop their leadership and service-learning skills. Rich and Boudreau were instrumental in supporting ChinChance’s internship with the New York State Assembly during his senior year. Following graduation, Chin-Chance was hired as community clerk for the legislator for whom he had interned, thus starting his career with the New York State government. Four years later, he became a legislative director for a Queens Assemblyman who was Chairperson for the Children and Families Committee. This committee oversees state public policy for child welfare, childcare, juvenile justice, and foster care. Chin-Chance is most proud of The Safe Harbor Act, for which he was a key partner in drafting some of the
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