News & Events

By: Zayaan Jappie 

When Soné Hege-Cornell and Driana Ureña Abreu first met as part of the inaugural cohort of the Moynihan Public Service Fellowship, they were both too reserved to do much more than exchange pleasantries. Two self-described shy young women, they shared a class but little else—until a summer internship placement changed everything.

Through the guidance and assistance of Moynihan staff, both fellows were assigned to intern at the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). Soné and Driana were the only two interns on the fourteenth floor and shared the same supervisor. And both, it turns out, were invested in the goal of one day working in immigration policy and advocacy.

"We became friends fast and got lunch together every day," Soné recalls. What began as the natural camaraderie of two people navigating an unfamiliar professional world together deepened into something more lasting—a friendship built on shared ambition, shared values, shared nerves, and more than a few moments that left them asking each other, How did we get here?

The Moynihan Fellowship, based in CCNY's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, is designed to connect students with public service through mentorship, civic education, and hands-on internship experience. For Soné and Driana, the fellowship provided both a sense of direction and a broader perspective in a college experience that had, at various moments, felt uncertain.

Driana, who graduated in May 2024 with a degree in political science and a minor in psychology, arrived at CCNY focused almost entirely on her grades. "When I first started college, I was very shy and nervous," she says. "I often felt like I was not truly preparing myself for life after undergrad." The fellowship changed that, offering what she describes as "a sense of security, community, and belonging."

Soné, who majored in Latin American studies—the only student to do so in her cohort—and minored in community change studies, had come to the fellowship with a clear focus: Guatemala (where she was adopted from), and the intersection of immigration and gender-based violence. The fellowship, she says, "aligned with all of my interests. It gave me the opportunity to work in public policy, and the stipend allowed me to study abroad in Spain and experience a different country and culture."  

Their MOIA internship was their first real encounter with immigration work not as an abstract policy area but as a living, breathing operation affecting New Yorkers’ daily lives. Their supervisor, Enrique, had only arrived at MOIA a few months before them; they were his first interns. "We were experiencing all of this together, and that helped me develop the confidence to take more initiative when it came to taking on new things at work," Soné says.

The internship offered opportunities and connections that neither could have imagined. Less than a week in, they found themselves in a room with former Mayor Eric Adams and the incoming Governor of Puebla, Mexico, Alejandro Armenta Mier­. They attended briefings on maternal health and were invited to represent the office at an event with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections at the United Nations. A senior staff member invited them to Gracie Mansion for Dominican Heritage Month, and on the same day, they marched in the Dominican Day Parade alongside Congressman Adriano Espaillat and his team.

For Driana, the networking—a word she admits she doesn't love—offered its own kind of lesson. "Be present and take advantage of every opportunity to connect with others," she says, was something that she learned from her MOIA supervisor, Enrique. She credits a chance conversation sparked when a senior staff member noticed her Dominican Republic necklace as the moment that secured her and Soné an invitation to the Dominican heritage celebrations at Gracie Mansion.

Since graduating, their paths have diverged in form but not in direction. Soné landed a Legislative Fellowship with NYC Council Member Oswald Feliz in the Bronx, where she drafts policy memos and helps constituents facing eviction, utility shutoffs, and housing instability. Driana has been working as a paralegal while continuing to search for a government role—a search she describes honestly as difficult without prior government experience.

But both maintain their dedication to public service outside of the professional space, teaching English to Spanish-speaking adults every Saturday morning through a volunteer program connected to MOIA. It’s a role they first started while interning in city government and have made a commitment to continue together.

Their long-term goals mirror each other in essence: Driana hopes one day to bring immigration work back to the Dominican Republic; Soné's sights are set on Guatemala and international-level immigration policy and advocacy.

They started off as strangers in a fellowship classroom at the Moynihan Center and reserved interns on the fourteenth floor of a city government building. They're continuing to show up—for their communities, and for each other.