ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT SOPHIA-NICOLE PETROVA BAY, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania, United States | Advancing SDG 1, SDG 8, SDG 10 & UNAI 1
" I am where I am today because of the communities that built me up. I want to give back to those communities, especially here in Philadelphia, by bridging access to financial literacy and inclusive opportunities so that more young people can feel empowered to shape their own futures. Being a Millennium Fellow is about gratitude and carrying forward the investments others have made in me. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Philly Finance Lab
The Philly Finance Lab is about making money make sense and making it feel like it belongs to everyone. Too often, finance gets treated like this faraway world of Wall Street suits and confusing jargon, when in reality, it’s woven into everyday Philly life: buying sneakers, catching the SEPTA, cashing a check, even sharing family stories about money struggles and survival. Our project takes those real, lived experiences and turns them into practical lessons teens can use right now. We’i've been organizing workshops, making videos, and creating guides that help students understand things like predatory lending, first paychecks, and side hustles. The goal isn’t just to teach finance, but rather to show teens that they already live it, and they have the power to own their futures. We have been putting together a digital toolkit with slides, activities, and reflection sheets so teachers and students can keep using the material on their own.
About the Millennium Fellow
Sophia-Nicole Bay is a junior in the Huntsman Program at the University of Pennsylvania, completing a dual degree in International Studies and Finance with Mandarin as her target language. She was born in Athens, grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria, and currently resides in Washington, D.C. Growing up in Bulgaria, Sophia was actively involved in projects to help the Roma community, culminating in a documentary she directed on the barriers faced by Roma youth in education and employment. Professionally, Sophia has interned in commercial diplomacy at the Business Council for International Understanding in Washington, D.C., and in impact investing at Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) in Singapore, where she worked on structuring a Women’s Livelihood Bond and evaluating blended-finance social impact investments across Southeast Asia. Sophia is interested in leveraging innovative capital structures and cross-cultural partnerships to expand opportunity worldwide and and advance progress toward the UN SDGs.
