It’s graduation season again, which means CCRC has something to celebrate!
Five staff members earned their advanced degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, this year. We’re pleased to recognize the accomplishments of Cindy Do, Shakira Henry, Nicole Mora, Astrid Pineda, and Zaakirah Rahman, all of whom completed their studies while contributing to CCRC’s research.
“We are proud to celebrate all of our graduates’ academic accomplishments and are grateful for the energy and fresh perspectives they brought to our work,” CCRC Director Thomas Brock said. “We can’t wait to see what they will achieve going forward.”
Cindy Do graduated with a master’s in education policy. At CCRC, Do worked on a team exploring multiple measures assessment, an alternative placement approach that relies on more than just students’ standardized test scores to determine if they need remedial support. She helped to develop a predictive analytics guide to help college practitioners choose a placement method that best supports student success at their college.
Do also assisted with CCRC’s fundraising efforts and catalogued past and potential funding opportunities. In addition to her role at CCRC, Do was a Zankel Fellow with REACH, an organization that provides support in classrooms at Teachers College Community School, a pre-K–8 public school.
Since graduating in December, she has begun working at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Shakira Henry earned her master’s from the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis (EPSA). At CCRC, Henry worked on a project to identify strategies for improving outcomes for marginalized community college students.
“Working with CCRC complemented my studies because I was learning the theory in the classroom but able to apply it at CCRC,” Henry said.
For her master’s project, she investigated the disparities in public school funding through a New York City-based case study and highlighted how inequities in educational finance undermine opportunities for low-income and minority students. Now that she’s graduated with one degree, Henry plans to pursue another in the near future while continuing her work in higher education.
“It’s funny, because when I came to TC I disliked research,” Henry said. “But after working at CCRC, I love it!”
Nicole Mora earned her master’s in sociology and education with a concentration in education policy in December. At CCRC, she assisted with multiple projects: One explored first-generation students’ support networks and how they can be leveraged to improve retention, and another aimed to identify colleges that were successfully closing equity gaps.
“She’s been an awesome colleague, known for her diligence in getting tasks done,” Andrea Lopez-Salazar, Mora’s colleague, said.
Mora has been working as an education consultant with the Public Consulting Group in New York City since January.
Astrid Pineda earned her PhD in economics and education. A member of the first cohort of Postsecondary Education Applied Research (PEAR) Fellows, a TC program administered jointly by CCRC and EPSA to train PhD students in applied research, Pineda participated in a research study on the effects of charter school attendance on college outcomes.
In January 2025, Pineda became an economist with The World Bank in Washington DC, where she will continue to work after graduation.
Zaakirah Rahman graduated with her master’s in education policy. With a passion for improving education and ensuring students have access to high-quality teaching and support, Rahman enrolled in the program to learn about the systems and mechanisms that shape schooling.
Rahman was involved with two projects at CCRC: one on the implementation of corequisite courses at community colleges in Louisiana and another on climate change and its implications for workforce training in community colleges. She played a key role in planning a symposium that brought college and climate leaders together to develop a clearer idea of what community colleges can contribute to the growing green economy.
“Both of these projects allowed me to get a glimpse of the relationship between policy and practice, which has been really instrumental in shaping my understanding of the role of research,” Rahman said.
She is currently interning with the National Center on Education and the Economy, a nonprofit policy research organization focused on strengthening the education system to prepare students for success in the global economy, where she will continue until August. After this summer, Rahman said her goal is to work at the intersection of policy, research, and advocacy, and to continue translating research into action.
Congratulations and best of luck to this year’s graduates from all of us at CCRC! As always, we’ll be rooting for you wherever your next steps take you.
