Meet NYCHA-CUNY Scholar Kenya Leiva
When she finally arrived at Queens College — her third college — Kenya Leiva felt like she had finally found the school where she truly belonged. Today, she is thriving — she was recently awarded a 2026 NYCHA-CUNY Scholarship, and she continues to build on her academic success and pursue her goals.
At Queens College, Ms. Leiva is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary and early childhood education and will graduate in 2028.
“My professors know me by name,” she said. “They ask how I’m doing. I’ve cried in front of a professor before. I’m seen as a human who is trying, and that has mattered to me the most.”
Ms. Leiva is one of 108 recipients of the 2026 NYCHA-CUNY Scholarship, which provides eligible NYCHA public housing and Section 8 residents attending City University of New York colleges and universities with $1,000. She received the Amazon NYCHA-CUNY award, funded by a generous grant from Amazon to the Public Housing Community Fund.
“I was very excited and kind of surprised when I found out I received the scholarship,” Ms. Leiva said. “I remember reading the email and saying, ‘Oh shoot, look at this!’ I get financial aid but it doesn’t cover everything, so I still have to do student loans — and seeing that number go up is scary.”
Ms. Leiva went back to school when her daughter was just 3 months old; she struggled with postpartum depression, yet she was determined to get a college degree to achieve her career goals.
“I really leaned on my faith to get me to where I am, especially fighting postpartum depression; believing that tomorrow was going to be better than yesterday got me to this point,” Ms. Leiva said.
Her daughter is now 3 and attends 3-K, which gives Ms. Leiva the opportunity to balance classes, her job, and the demands of parenting, with the support of her partner.
She recently began working as a behavior technician with a young girl on the autism spectrum. She provides therapy sessions and helps the child develop social-emotional awareness, independent living skills, and other skills tailored to her needs. Sometimes the work involves creating mini lesson plans, while other times it means helping her client keep track of what happened throughout the day and recount it.
As a Spanish speaker, this experience has reinforced her desire to work with children and families in Black and brown communities; she wants to help address the challenges that families face with cultural or language barriers while seeking support for their children.
After she receives her bachelor’s degree, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in special education and eventually lead a special education or integrated co-teaching classroom.
To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship, visit: College Scholarships | OpportunityNYCHA – REES.
To learn about the 2026 scholarship awards ceremony, visit: Celebrating Achievement and Opportunity: 108 NYCHA Residents Receive CUNY Scholarships – The NYCHA Journal.