Meet City Year: Spotlight on City Year New York’s Nina Prakash

Meet City Year is a new mini-series that highlights our corps, staff and alums across the country, showing different aspects of our work; our short- and long-term impact; and the human connection behind everything we do. 

Meet Nina Prakash 

City Year New York AmeriCorps Volunteer Nina Prakash just completed her year of service as a Team Leader, supporting student success at an elementary school in Brooklyn. In this role, Nina led a team of five City Year student success coaches, coordinating school-wide initiatives, planning exciting assemblies, and tutoring her own group of fourth graders. 

A Dartmouth College graduate, Nina completed an award-winning thesis on psychedelic therapy for depression and served as a co-chair of the college’s DREAM club, an AmeriCorps-affiliated organization that mentors under-served youth. She has worked as an EMT and conducted research at the National Institute of Health and an under-resourced hospital in Lima, Peru.  

A few weeks ago, Nina moderated a cross-sector panel at a national social impact conference that explored how nonprofits, philanthropy and the private sector can work together to center young people as co-creators in the future of AI. 

Nina, 23, is passionate about advancing health equity, education, and community-based service. She is excited to attend Columbia Medical School this fall. 

Nina shared the following thoughts with us during her final weeks serving with City Year New York. 

Nina, why do you serve with City Year? 

The importance of deep human connection is really why I decided to join City Year and do my service year. One of the biggest questions we reflect on is: how do we know we’re making a difference?  

Whenever anyone asks me that, I think of my student Juan. He’s in 4th grade and is 10 years old. When I started working with him back in November, he spoke mostly Spanish and couldn’t read or write in English nor Spanish. He is hardworking and clearly very bright and just needed someone to give him the resources to succeed. Our first lesson was the alphabet.  

I’m very happy to say that now, in June, he’s progressed to reading full sentences and short books. I’m really proud of him. Even though I won’t be there next year, he’ll have other City Year corps members, and he’s now at a level where he can work with the reading specialist at his school.  

Throughout our time together, I realized he struggled with some letters more than others, and so I set him up with the speech therapist at our school. I feel confident that he has the support he needs and is set up for success in the future. 

What would you say to someone who is considering joining City Year? 

I would say that if you love working with kids and want to make a measurable difference in students’ lives, this is the place for you. You will gain transferable skills such as adaptability, empathy, and discipline in the fast-paced life of working in a school.  

Think of a mentor you had in your life, someone who really influenced who you are today. Now think about how meaningful it would be if you could be that mentor in someone else’s life. All kids deserve a mentor like that, and you could be that support for someone in need. 

What was the biggest thing you learned or skill you gained this past year, serving with City Year? 

The biggest thing I have learned is how to be a good leader during my time with City Year. While I have had some leadership positions before, being a first-year team leader (when most already have a year of City Year service under their belt) was a steep learning curve. It required adaptability and determination to learn the ropes quickly enough to lead a team of five and integrate in a productive way in the school’s environment.  

I learned to lead with compassion, integrity, and thoughtfulness, and I will carry those skills with me to medical school and beyond. 

Learn more about serving with City Year.