This summer, YI’s New York team is lucky to work with three amazing young leaders as part of our summer internship program, in collaboration with PENCIL and Brooklyn College.

To learn more about our 2020 summer interns, scroll below. For more information about our internship program, please fill out this Google Form.

Maie Sayed 

Maie Sayed is an entering senior at the High School of Telecommunications, Arts, and Technology in Brooklyn, and is interning with YI through the PENCIL internship program. Maie has interned with PathFinders, an organization that works to expand the foundational career readiness within the computer science field. She is also the club leader of L!NK, a group that works to improve the overall community through service, leadership, and philanthropy. She also leads BluePrint, a leadership development club. Maie loves science and would possibly like to major in it and/or business.

Neha Syeda

Neha Syeda is currently a sophomore at CUNY Brooklyn College pursuing a major in Communications and minor in Political Science. As a recent immigrant to the United States, she was aware of her financial limitations and decided that public college was the most appropriate institution to pursue higher education. Her personal struggles with access to higher quality education sparked her interest in higher education reform and she began working with organizations such as Young Progressives of America, CUNY Rising and later NYPIRG which allowed her to gain greater insight into the crumbling public education system. She helped register voters and began advocating for better funding by mobilizing her peers through organized events to help raise awareness on the issue. She was also a part of the Young Invincibles’ Young Advocates program for Spring 2020 where she organized meetings with legislators to communicate students’ concerns.

In order to be an active participant in bringing change, she joined the Policy Council at her campus at Brooklyn College to voice out the student concerns directly to the President and faculty and engage in effective problem-solving tactics for better learning conditions and appropriate funding towards students. During her free time, she likes to take long walks while listening to her favorite podcasts.

Tiffany Zhu

Tiffany Zhu graduated from Millennium High School in Manhattan, and will be attending Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. She has worked with Immigrant Social Services as a Group Leader/Teacher’s Assistant and Teach for All-NY as a Global Research Associate. She is currently interning with YI through the PENCIL internship program. Tiffany has participated as a dancer through the Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LEAP) and was a member of her school’s Korean Culture Club. During her free time, she likes to cook, bake and hang out with her family and friends. Recently, she started to enjoy journaling and embroidery as well.