Institute Intelligence, May 2026: Building capacity to support immigrants, Welcoming our new CUNY interns
By Carla Sinclair, Communications Project Director
Approximately 50,000 students graduated across CUNY’s 26 campuses this May. Thousands of future leaders, scientists, writers, lawyers, artists, researchers, entrepreneurs, educators, and more have entered the workforce, becoming part of the economic engine that is the country’s largest urban public university. That includes many CUNY ISLG staffers, including the editor of this newsletter.
As a proud part of that system, we had a few celebrations ourselves this past month. We graduated the latest cohort of the Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders, our professional development program for state and local political office leaders. We also welcomed our new group of Public Policy Pathways Interns, helping build the next generation of CUNY student graduates and leaders. Meet them all below.
Even with all that celebrating, we’re still working hard to provide our public sector partners with research, capacity building, and insights. Dig into our latest reflection of that work—and how it supports immigrant communities—below as well.
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Immigrants—and all vulnerable communities—need strong organizations to guard against legal and other challenges. But these organizations need strong foundations.
America has long grappled with its immigration policies, but in the past year it’s reached a fever pitch. Immigration crackdowns from Minnesota to New Jersey have flooded the news. Unconstitutional arrests, inhumane jails, and overburdened courts have left communities scrambling.
The organizations that support them need the infrastructure, flexible funding, and strategic planning to respond quickly. Grassroots Policy Incubator grantee ICARE Coalition has stepped up to the challenge. When the federal administration revoked court access and shut off legal services funding, nearly 2,000 unaccompanied minors facing deportation proceedings found themselves alone in immigration court.
With support from ISLG on launching a new volunteer program, collecting data to measure service impact, and streamlining internal processes, ICARE was able to make sure children were connected with legal support.
Public sector organizations need to build this capacity to offer strong, effective, resilient services. In The Imprint, ICARE's Sierra Kraft and our Patrick Hart write about how they did it, and how the model can be used in the future.
Celebrating the 2025-2026 cohort of the Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders
This spring, we celebrated the graduation of our largest-ever Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders cohort. More than 40 chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs, and other political office leaders from across New York City and State completed months of policy deep dives, network building, and professional development designed specifically for the demands of their unique roles.
Learn more about them on our blog.
Curious what it’s like to be a Kriegel fellow? We spoke to NYC Council Deputy Chief of Staff Julian Martin about why he joined the Fellowship, what he learned, and his journey through the public sector. Read the Q&A here.
Interested in joining the next cohort? Keep an eye out for application for the 2026 cohort in the next few weeks.
...and introducing the next generation of leaders: the 2026 Public Policy Pathway Interns!
As a public sector-serving CUNY institution, our Public Policy Pathways Internship (PPPI) taps into that engine to give CUNY undergraduate and graduate students hands-on experience serving governments and communities, developing intentional career pathways across our research, policy, operations, data science, and legal work.
We’re proud to introduce the fourth cohort of the PPPI. This paid summer program pairs CUNY students with our staff for hands-on experience working in the public sector, from state and local governments to community-based organizations.
“As a product of CUNY, I know how meaningful it is to be exposed to the field you are pursuing. CUNY students are an invaluable asset to the work we do. They bring lived experience, creativity, and enormous potential.”
- Nathalie Lebrón, Senior Policy Associate and PPPI manager
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