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ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2022

United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. Over 31,000 young leaders on 2,400+ campuses across 140+ nations applied to join the Class of 2022.  200+ campuses worldwide (just 8%) were selected to host the 3,000+ Millennium Fellows.

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UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT BRITTANY ALEXIS LESLIE, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2022.

New York University | New York, United States | Advancing SDG 4 & UNAI 3

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" During my middle school years, I worked actively to expose myself to various different issues facing my community. It was not until high school that I realized that one of the main issues plaguing minority communities was the accessibility to and interest in STEAM education. This sudden realization had shown itself in my AP Computer Science class, where out of a total of 15 students, only three students were girls (including myself). Additionally, I seemed to be the only brown or Hispanic student in the classroom. While there currently exists a push in the United States for women to go into STEAM-related fields, a lack exists for those women who identify as minorities. An even greater lack exists outside of the United States, where many foreign governments hesitate to allocate funds to STEAM education. The current inaccessibility to this education (and education in general) both in the United States and outside is detrimental to children and families, especially as technology begins to play a greater role in our society. These citizens are hence more prone to fall victim to the poverty trap and exploitation, among other injustices, by larger companies and their respective governments. By running Toucan Coders, I am able to actively work to provide quality education free of charge to underrepresented communities. By teaching and guiding the students, I hope that the students will additionally help others in their local community by being advocates for STEAM education and spreading their learned knowledge. I hope that my organization will soon be in many other countries as well, helping citizens all over receive the STEAM education that they deserve. "

Millennium Fellowship Project: Toucan Coders

Toucan Coders is an organization that works to provide STEAM and coding lessons to underprivileged students in Belize, Canada, and the United States.

About the Millennium Fellow

Brittany Leslie is a college senior studying Biomolecular Sciences at NYU Tandon Engineering who aspires to obtain an MD degree. She is passionate about cancer nanomedicine research and STEM. Her passion for nanomedicine is coupled with her growing interest in computer science. Having won several national and state awards in computer science, and seeing the underlying gap that exists in technology and its impact, particularly in healthcare among indigenous and underprivileged communities, Brittany has started a non-profit organization called Toucan Coders to provide AI, robotic, coding, and computer education and skills to underrepresented communities.

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