In early September, Chapin hosted the second annual SPARK Leadership Conference for Class 7 students, led by Jessica Catoggio of the World Leadership School. Together in the Assembly Room, students participated in a variety of self-reflective activities to help them discover their individual leadership style with Jessica before listening to moving life stories from Chapin alumnae.
During the two-day sessions, the girls spent time defining what makes them unique individuals, discovering their commonalities, helping to foster their sense of purpose and understanding the importance of community. Other workshops focused on examining personal experiences and defining passions and skills. This framework is introduced to Class 7 at the beginning of the school year to support their leadership and mentorship work with Class 5 during the yearlong “Incugator” project. Now in its second year, this cross-divisional service learning collaboration empowers students to design and execute meaningful projects that address real world issues like food insecurity in New York City.
Two accomplished alumnae, Justine Almada ’01 and Celina Cabán Gandhi ’04, returned to Chapin to share with students how they found their own spark and purpose. Justine, Executive Director and Co-founder of The Anal Cancer Foundation and NOMAN Campaign, who also spoke at Chapin last year, noted that her experience working in public service and the loss of her adored mother to anal cancer shaped the work she does today. A former Community Engagement President at Chapin, community service has always been important to Justine. After graduating from Wesleyan University, she served as Chief of Staff to a New York City Council Member with a focus on equitable housing. Reflecting on this work, she recalled her passion for improving the lives of the people in her city.
Justine’s mother’s battle with cancer ultimately inspired her to create positive and transformative change in others’ lives. She explained to the students that 15 years ago, in addition to a lack of medical advancements and treatments for these cancer patients, there was also a painful stigma attached to this particular disease. After their mother passed away, Justine and her family were determined to remove the stigma attached to anal cancer and increase awareness for and resources dedicated to ending this terrible cancer.
Justine told Class 7 how this created a deep drive within her and her family which led to the start of the Anal Cancer Foundation. This organization has completely changed the landscape of the disease through advocacy and fundraising. Through their Foundation, the Almada family has helped millions of people gain increased access to the HPV vaccine — a vital tool in their mission to eliminate this cancer globally. The Foundation's achievements include the first immunotherapy for anal cancer, the first anal cancer medical society and the first patient conference and support network. Their work was recognized with the Biden Cancer Initiative's LEAP Leadership award for their transformative impact on the lives of patients.
Justine concluded with a message to persevere in the face of challenge or doubt. She and her family had limited institutional support when they began the Foundation, and now, because of their persistence, countless lives have been changed thanks to a spark that fueled their determination that no one else should go through this process alone and unsupported.
Celina, the conference’s second alum speaker, who is a Senior Staff Attorney at Legal Services NYC and Founder, Director and Board Member of the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, next shared her powerful story and meaningful work. After attending Chapin, where she was an active member of the community, Celina went on to receive her B.A. in Economic History from Barnard College. In 2011, she began her studies at CUNY Queens Law School, receiving a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Health Care Law. It was during law school that Celina realized that she wanted to address the lack of opportunity, diversity and access for underprivileged youth in the legal profession. It was that spark that drove her to found the Sotomayor Program, named after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her mother, Celina Baez Sotomayor. While underscoring for students the perseverance and self-motivation it took to launch such an initiative as a young woman navigating the legal field, Celina said her goal was clear and that she always believed her idea could transform people's lives. She refused to let anything stand in her way.
In 2014, with the help of her mentor, the Honorable Denny Chin, U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Celina launched the program. What began as a judicial internship opportunity for high school students has grown into a robust, multi-level summer program supporting over 90 students — aged from high school to law school — with internships, mentorship, educational programming, wellness coaching and test preparation.
Celina described how her journey has been shaped by familiar role models, such as Malala Yousafzai and Christiane Amanpour, as well as the lasting influence of teachers and mentors. She emphasized the importance of nurturing those relationships, noting their profound impact on her personal and professional growth. During her talk, Celina encouraged students to identify their strengths by self-reflecting, speaking with trusted adults and reading widely to explore and expand their talents. This paired so well with the group work students had completed prior to her arrival. Celina ended her talk with a message to the Chapin community that with vision, resilience and support, young people can create lasting change.
Class 7 students had the opportunity to ask questions after each talk, hearing more about the inspiring and meaningful work of these two Chapin alums.
The empowering two days of sessions concluded with Class 7 students engaging in a discussion around the question: “How can we use our power to make changes in our community?”
As the students turn their ideas into action during their Incugator cross-divisional service project and beyond, their inspiring SPARK work will no doubt continue to motivate them.
