Our Work

As the new leader of the Early-College program, Luis brings to CUNY a varied experience in public and private education focused on creating higher-education pathways for low-income and English-Learner students and communities. Over the course of more than two decades, he has worked as a teacher and administrator in Maryland, in his native Puerto Rico, and in New York; as well as on education-policy issues at the national level in Washington, DC. His experience includes serving as a New York City High School Principal, Principal Coach and Achievement Manager, and as a Mentor to two Regional Superintendents of the Puerto Rico Department of Education.

During his tenure at the Internationals Network for Public Schools, he supervised programs providing structural and instructional support to a network of 15 high schools focused on English Learners, including teacher and school-leader coaching. Most recently, he served as Assistant Superintendent at the Yonkers Public Schools, where he led the development and implementation of all PK-12 performance-appraisal systems for teachers, school leaders, and central office leaders, as well as teacher- and leader-pipeline programs—including leading and facilitating the Yonkers Urban Leadership Academy.

Throughout these leadership positions, Luis’ focus has been to champion equitable teaching and learning with educational achievement opportunities and differentiated pathways to student success, while advocating for structural changes that advance equity.

Amina DeBurst-Banks is a Math School Support Specialist with the CUNY Early College developing relationships with principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders to identify school goals, priorities, and challenges that focus on numeracy. Through instructional coach and leadership support, her focus is to narrow the numeracy gaps that exist from middle school and high school curriculums upwards to college-level coursework. Amina is a seasoned educator and lover of mathematics who has spent the last decade empowering students to excel in STEM and pursue their dreams. Before joining our team in 2022, Amina was the Founding Math Department Chair and AP Calculus teacher at Beloved Community Charter School. She served as a mentor and coach to help educators continuously improve their instructional practices and implement best practices in the classroom. Her passion for Math has inspired countless students to discover the beauty of calculus and pursue careers in STEM fields.

Arway Boker is a Senior Project Manager committed to elevating evidence-based practices and creating collaborative learning spaces. In her current role with CUNY Early College, Arway helps ensure the organization’s mission is executed through a focus on partnership building, external communications, and oversight of special projects. She uses early college storytelling to highlight the network’s academic and career success and help bring deeper understanding to the work.

Before CUNY, Arway was Assistant Director for the New York City Youth Council. She also developed service-learning teacher and youth leadership training at school districts and community-based organizations throughout the US, Qatar, and Senegal.

Monserrat Muniz is a dedicated and experienced professional who recently joined the CUNY Early College (EC) program in December 2023 as the Project Manager. In this role, she will be responsible for supporting the program with strategic planning and collaborating with internal and external partners to further the mission of EC.

Prior to joining the EC team, Monserrat served as the Director of Data Management and Information Systems at the John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity. In that role, she oversaw the development and implementation of the Institute’s database that supported programs across the Institute. She also provided support in operations, policy, fiscal reporting, data collection, and evaluation at CUNY Fostering College Success Initiative (FCSI) and Foster Care Initiative (FCI). Her extensive experience in these roles has provided her with valuable insights into educational initiatives that aim to create positive change for underserved communities, and she is passionate about helping programs make data-driven decisions to improve outcomes.

In addition to her professional achievements, Monserrat also served in the United States Navy for over 6 years, showcasing her commitment to service and leadership. Her enthusiasm for supporting positive and progressive change, along with her expertise in data management, makes her a trusted leader in her role as the Project Manager at EC.

Nicole Colbert is passionate about making the educational experience accessible to a wide range of learners. She has extensive experience teaching English and ESL and has taught in several CUNY colleges, private colleges, and community-based organizations. At Kingsborough-CUNY, where she was an Adjunct and Sub-Lecturer before joining the CUNY team, she taught in learning communities, developed cross-curriculum goals, designed reading assessments, served as a cohort leader, presented on best practices, and served on several committees focused on enhancing reading and writing pedagogy. She especially enjoys working with colleagues across curriculums to find new and dynamic ways to engage students. She also holds an MSEd in School Counseling in which she was a college advisor. In her role, she works with educators and stakeholders to foster the best possible outcome for students on their educational journey and pathways to college.

Rodrigo Ramirez joins the team as Associate Director of Data and Performance, his work will include cultivating the relationships between our college and school partners, managing and developing policy, in collaboration with CUNY Central and Network partners, coordinating the research agenda and analyzing data to improve program implementation, and assess impact. Additionally, he will explore areas of advocacy, funding, and budget management, and lead aspects of strategic planning aimed to address program goals.

Rodrigo graduated from Dartmouth College in 2006 with a double-major in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Asian and Middle Eastern Languages & Literatures (Japanese). After graduating, he returned to Dartmouth to join the Student Activities team, and later Career Services. In his various roles, his work focused on assessment, data management, strategic planning, and educational programming. As Assistant Director of Career Services, he developed a new marketing and branding strategy for the office, coordinated outreach, and advised students on their career and educational development. For his last five years at Dartmouth he served as Assistant Dean & Advisor to Latinx Students in the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, there he helped create divisional policies on inclusion, student support, assessment, as well as oversee the Latinx Community at the College. In 2014, Rodrigo received a Masters in Liberal Arts & Sciences degree with a Globalization concentration from Dartmouth. His master’s thesis entitled, “Examining the Social and Economic Benefits of Education as an Instrument for Economic Growth,” analyzed the positive pro-social, and micro- and macro-economic benefits to investments in education, and discussed the pedagogical structures of national systems which achieve the best outcomes for their respective students.