LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI)
Contact Us
General and Event Inquiries: humani@lagcc.cuny.edu
For teaching and program inquiries, contact Prof. Tuli Chatterji
Community
Founded in 2019-2020, LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI) is a collegewide Experiential Learning initiative at LaGuardia Community College that assists students to reflect on their classroom learning in partnership with organizations to develop projects supporting local and global communities. Students receive opportunities that include, but not limited to, volunteering, internship, fundraising, designing focused tasks that strengthen both the mission of LaGuardia and the vision of the partnering organization(s). ALL LHI partnerships are year long projects (September-June) focusing on a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal that involves a collaborative inter-disciplinary inquiry of the theme to brainstorm strategies and sustainable solutions promoting equity and inclusivity.
The United Nations Academic Impact Program recognized LHI’s global contributions by inviting LaGuardia to join the 1,400 institutions from 145 countries who make up the United Nations Academic Impact Program membership.
LHI Partners (2023-2024)
- Local Partner: Food Coop-Western Queens – A cooperative uniting individuals working together to provide local, fresh, affordable, sustainable and culturally relevant food to the Western Queens community.
- Local Partner: Food Bank of New York – A non profit organization dedicated to combating food poverty in our five boroughs since 1983. As the city’s largest hunger-relief organization, they employ a multifaceted approach to assist low-income New Yorkers in achieving greater independence.
- Global Partner: Water for South Sudan – One of our first partners (2019-2020) collaborates once more with our faculty and students to address South Sudan’s water crisis. We are engaged in research and strategies to enhance their visibility through social media and national partnerships.
- Global Partner: American Women for International Understanding – A non profit organization founded over half a century ago to promote international understanding through personal connection. They strive to build goodwill through non-partisan, female-led, voluntary citizen action.
Continuing Partners
- Center for Immigrant Education and Training
LaGuardia LHI students worked with CIET to virtually tutor children of LaGuardia student-parents during COVID-19 - The United Nations Academic Impact Program LaGuardia joins a network of educational institutions in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (view certificate)
- Climate Reality Project (Climate Reality Campus Corps) Current partner, trains and mobilizes advocates for action around solutions to the global climate crisis (read welcome letter)
- LaGuardia CARES (College Access for Retention and Economic Success) connects students with resources, referrals and local community services to overcome financial barriers, stay in school and graduate.
- Barefoot College, International
- Grameen America (Grameen Bank recipient of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize)
- CARE, International
- Water for South Sudan
- American Women for International Understanding
CARE One of the world’s largest and oldest humanitarian organization, CARE has been feeding the hungry since 1945 and continues its work to defeat poverty and achieve social justice
Malala Fund Current partner, Malala Fund–founded by Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai–promotes the right of girls worldwide to 12 years of free, safe education
- Amal Alliance
LaGuardia students revised educational materials and raised funds to support schooling of Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh (read letter of thanks) - Make the Road
LaGuardia students volunteered and sponsored youth internships at Make the Road, advocating for local immigrant communities - Digital Girl, Inc
Digital Girl encourages inner city youth, especially girls, to pursue careers in STEM fields
Water for South Sudan
LaGuardia sponsored the rehabilitation of a water well for a village of 500 in South Sudan (read letters of thanks).
Get Involved – Contact Us
For general and event inquiries email us at humani@lagcc.cuny.edu
For teaching and program inquiries email Tuli Chatterji at tchatterji@lagcc.cuny.edu
For library and research support email Elizabeth Jardine at ejardine@lagcc.cuny.edu
For classroom visits and student engagement email Stefania Dinu at sdinu@lagcc.cuny.edu