United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the 2025 recipient of the Colin L. Powell Distinguished Leadership Award, bestowed by the Colin Powell School at The City College of New York.
The award recognizes individuals who have reached the highest level in their fields, and who embody the leadership values that General Powell, a 1958 graduate of CCNY, demonstrated throughout his career: integrity, humility, humor, pragmatism, and common sense. These values were articulated most famously in Powell’s Thirteen Rules of Leadership, which culminate with “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” These words are memorialized on the award medallion.
In presenting the award to Sotomayor at a ceremony in New York City earlier this month, Linda Powell, chair of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors and the daughter of General Powell, cited Sotomayor’s life story and her professional accomplishments, and lauded her commitment to justice.
“Justice Sotomayor’s journey — marked by perseverance, determination, and an unwavering commitment to justice — paved the way for countless others to follow,” said Powell. “Much like my father, she leads by example, demonstrating that true leadership is about character, service, and making a lasting impact on the world.”
A Bronx native, Justice Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University. She earned her law degree from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as a New York County assistant district attorney and, after leaving government service, made partner at Pavia & Harcourt. She was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President William J. Clinton in 1997. President Barack Obama appointed her to the Supreme Court in 2009.
In a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa that touched on family and loss, friendship and solitude, Latin music and dance, and growing up in the Bronx, Sotomayor addressed the Colin Powell students and young alumni in the room.
“I have the faith that the General had that you will have the power to make a better world than we have,” she said. “That you will figure out from our mistakes what to do in a different way…you show us that there are still young people interested in changing the world.”
The Distinguished Leader Awards event was conceived by Marco Antonio Achón, co-chair of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors and global head of Corporate Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking. The event was made possible through the generous support of Santander.
In his remarks, Achón paid tribute to General Powell and his leadership of the school that bears his name.
“General Powell’s leadership wasn’t about commanding attention—it was about giving it. It wasn’t about prestige—it was about purpose. His gift was to instill in others a sense of dignity, of optimism, and of responsibility,” he said. “The Colin Powell School is one of his most enduring acts of leadership. It is where potential meets purpose. Where voices that might have gone unheard are being prepared to lead—with courage, integrity, and vision.”
“Justice Sotomayor embodies the essence of effective leadership, and she is a role model for generations of young people who aspire to be change-makers,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School. “It is a privilege for us to honor her with the 2025 Colin L. Powell Distinguished Leadership Award.”
CCNY President Vince Boudreau talked of how Justice Sotomayor “shares a great many characteristics with General Powell: Integrity. Passion. Perseverance. An inclination — maybe even a compulsion — to say what she truly believes despite the costs and the headwinds. And they also share a life trajectory — born in the Bronx and rising to national leadership.”
City University of New York Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez celebrated Justice Sotomayor’s deep roots in New York and noted that her late mother earned a nursing degree at CUNY’s Hostos Community College.
“Most people know her as a justice of the Supreme Court but for decades before her appointment in 2009 she was a New Yorker who devoted her life’s work to the principles of equal opportunity and democracy,” he said. “We know what her leadership means as we move forward and we are proud to honor her here tonight.”
