Samer Hassan

Student Activist at Columbia University, and Youth Advisory Board Member at Young Invincibles

Samer Hassan grew up in Chicago and decided that community college was the most equitable path in order to begin his journey in higher education. As a former undocumented immigrant, he was aware of the realities that marginalized communities faced. After noticing rampant inequalities among the segregated neighborhoods of Chicago, he began a mentorship pipeline from Chicago’s underrepresented communities to the community colleges in order to provide children with marketable skills and self-growth. After gaining the Student Government President position, he advocated for fellow community college students where they worked in tandem to push administrators towards tuition reform and accept student voices in their decision-making processes.

Partnering with numerous organizations such as: Chicago Votes in order to help register voters, Chicago Council on Global Affairs which provided politicians and diplomats direct access to college students, and Young Invincibles where he was able to provide an immigrant perspective to Bill Gates, who eventually began lobbying Congress to reform the FAFSA application process. In 2018, Samer earned the Program for Academic Leadership and Service Award Scholarship and currently studies Political Science at Columbia University New York.