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NIGEL HENRY ROBINSON

Charles B. Rangel Fellow

Age: 27

Heritage: Colombian

 

Nigel is an East Boston native, Colombian-American, and the first in his family to graduate from college. He attended Bucknell University via The Posse Foundation, receiving a B.A. in international relations. In 2018, Nigel was awarded the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship following a highly competitive nationwide contest. He is one of 30 fellows pursuing his Master’s degree at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, before beginning his career as a Foreign Service Officer.

 

Between his time at Bucknell and Fletcher, Nigel came back to Boston and made concerted efforts to give back to his community. He experienced first-hand the positive work nonprofits do  and was drawn to The Steppingstone Foundation. He worked as a Support Services Advisor tasked with ensuring all of his 140 advisees met benchmarks for admission into and success at competitive four-year colleges. Outside of Steppingstone, Nigel volunteered or served on the boards of other organizations like Posse, Summer Search, the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, Breakthrough Greater Boston, and the Lewis Family Foundation.

 

Nigel’s goals are to be a change agent and a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion. These desires are what drove him to apply to Rangel and become a U.S. diplomat. Rangel’s mission of creating a class of high potential emerging leaders, with an emphasis on advancing people of color, was reaffirming for Nigel as a Latino. He sees the fellowship as an opportunity to expand his reach, see more of the world, and touch more lives. In the past year alone, Nigel interned with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C. and at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. With the support of the fellowship, he believes he can continue to enter these spaces and eventually become part of the group of decision-makers who can shape the trajectory of our nation. 

 

Nigel is the first to tell you, he would not be in the position he is in today without the help of countless people. The most important being his mother and aunt. Both immigrated from Colombia and it was through witnessing their grit, hard work, and sacrifice that he understood what it meant to be a proud Latino in the U.S. He is forever grateful for what they have done for him and hopes to pay it forward.

 

Nigel is extremely humbled to be a part of this year’s El Mundo Boston Latino 30 Under 30. He hopes sharing his story can inspire others to continue to work hard in whatever they do.

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