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Who We Are

Welcome to the Colin Powell School!

The future needs people with deep training in the social sciences prepared to lead across industry and in every sector, with bold reimaginings of ways to address the problems in our world. Producing these leaders is the fundamental and essential mission of the Powell School. 

The Powell School is home to the social sciences at CCNY as well as the core leadership development, business, psychology, and public service programs of the College. Our students come from communities that have historically been denied power. They arrive with both a determination to change that and valuable perspectives on the challenges and needs of their communities. As a school, we aspire to prepare them to find power and opportunity in order to become leaders in service to the city and society.

At the Colin Powell School, our faculty and staff—our programs and initiatives—represent some of the best that CCNY has to offer in ways that connect directly to our city, its people and its problems. It has been my privilege to serve as Dean of the Powell School since 2019. I have been part of the CCNY community since 2003. Over that time, my belief in our mission has strengthened; my appreciation for the transformative potential of our extraordinary students in a diverse society has deepened. 

We are privileged to have the guidance of a distinguished Board of Visitors, which was chaired by 1958 CCNY graduate General Colin L. Powell until he passed in 2021. General Powell’s vision and deep commitment to our students still guide us today.

I invite you to become involved with our work. The fulfillment of our mission at the Powell School — the advancement of our values of service, engagement and leadership—signals the possibilities for a better future for all of us. The success of our students remains a remarkable testament to the importance of our work and to our capacity to thrive.

Andrew Rich

Andrew Rich

Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean, Colin Powell School

arich@ccny.cuny.edu
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NAC Building 6/141

Why the Colin
Powell School?
40%

growth in student numbers since 2018

$5.5m

to support paid internships since 2022

4K

students enrolled, making us the largest division of CCNY

Who are our students?

Our students come from diverse backgrounds, each bringing unique perspectives and experiences. We help them discover and define their vision and mission, aligning their education with their aspirations within and beyond college.

50%+ Immigrants

70%+ First-Generation College Students

85% People of Color

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Mission
The mission of the Colin Powell School can be expressed very simply: “Lifting Leaders, Shifting Power, and Transforming Society.” This reflects our belief that the future requires globally-minded, diverse leaders who are able to engage in analytically rigorous and evidence-informed debates. We need people with deep training in the social sciences prepared to lead across industry and in every sector, with bold reimaginings of ways to address the current challenges and inequities in our world. Producing these leaders is our mission.
Vision
As a school, we aspire to prepare our students to take power — and along the way, challenge systems of power — in order to become leaders in service to the city and society. We do so by combining a deep and rigorous education in the social sciences with values that advance leadership development, civic engagement, and social justice. All of this is in service to social mobility for a student body that is more than 85 percent people of color, half immigrants and first in their families to go to college, and mostly from lower income neighborhoods.