TC’s mission of fostering innovative solutions to serve the public good is a guiding principle of Impact Day. As we reflect on the community’s participation in TC’s fifth annual day of philanthropy and service around the world, we take a closer look at the work and service of the 2026’s TC Impact Spotlight honorees: student Emily Nguyen (M.S. ’27, Communications Sciences and Disorders) and alumnus Brandon Martin (M.A. '16, Education Leadership & Summer Principals Academy).
Meet Emily Nguyen, a student in TC’s Communications Sciences and Disorders program with a passion for literacy, multilingual support and special education.
How Emily makes an impact:
- Providing individual and group therapy for people with aphasia and autism, and creating weekly session plans as a Student Clinician at the Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders.
- Helping students in Harlem at risk of reading failure become stronger readers as a Literacy Tutor for The Reading Team.
- Addressing speech-language pathology (SLP) resource gaps in an educational setting for bilingual and multicultural children.
- Providing speech, language, and social support for community members with aphasia as a Volunteer Co-Leader of Spanish Saturday Aphasia Group at TC.
What Drives Emily: A belief in the power of community and a desire to provide quality care to underserved and diverse populations. “In our field, the people that we serve are increasingly diverse, so it's important for us to come in with knowledge of different cultures,” says Nguyen.
How TC Helps: “Teachers College provides me with the academic, clinical and cultural framework to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services, assessments and treatment,” says Nguyen, who is pursuing the program’s bilingual extension certificate in Spanish. “We're learning how to use our clinical judgment as well as evidence-based practices to treat every individual case.” She is putting these skills into practice through her position at the Mysak Clinic as well as her work with the Reading Team, where she works with diverse populations who have a range of diagnoses.
The community she’s found at TC is another standout aspect of Nguyen’s experience. Being able to connect with and learn of her fellow classmates, clinical instructors and professors continually informs Nguyen’s practice. “I feel very fortunate to be in this program because I really do feel like those of us at Teachers College are determined to make a change in whatever communities we find ourselves,” she says. “I just love all the people I get to meet and interact with here at TC.”
What Gives Emily Hope: “Being a part of a world where people are there for each other and want to support each other,” says Nguyen. “I'm always going to try to put myself in communities where I can make those meaningful connections and pass it on.”
Meet Brandon Martin, founder of a non-profit organization that is creating new generations of Black leaders
How Brandon makes an impact:
- Leading Close Ties Leadership Program, serving more than 175 boys in Atlanta through a long-term leadership pipeline that walks with the same cohorts from fifth grade through high school graduation.
- Showcasing pathways to college and career for Black boys beyond athletics through sustained mentorship, college tours, and corporate exposure experiences.
- Equipping students with the social-emotional skills, leadership development, and identity-affirming support they need to navigate academic and life challenges with confidence.
- Connecting students to scholarship and postsecondary opportunities, contributing to participants earning more than $11 million in scholarships.
- Building and scaling a comprehensive, relationship-centered model that increases representation of Black men in higher education and leadership pathways.
What Drives Brandon: Countering harmful narratives and providing Black boys with opportunities to see themselves as intelligent and capable leaders. “To believe that Black boys are the reason for the gap in achievement means that we believe that they were born that way, and clearly that's not the case,” says Martin. “We look at it from a systemic level, there are just different levels of support that they will need in order to achieve the excellence that we all know that they [are capable of].”
How TC Helps: While Martin was inspired to create Close Ties after working in a classroom during his undergraduate degree, his time in the TC’s Education Leadership program provided him with the skills and knowledge needed to ensure that the organization could stand the test of time. “Close Ties was a dream before I enrolled at TC,” says Martin. “I've always had the heart and passion for it but [TC] gave me a clear framework to build an organization that will last longer than I will live.”
His development of Close Ties was shaped, in part, by Brian Perkins, Professor of Practice and Director of TC’s Summer Principals Academy. Seeing Perkins, a Black man, occupying a leadership role served as inspiration for Martin and gave him confidence that he can achieve his dream. “I felt I was a recipient of the services that I give the boys,” he says.
What Gives Brandon Hope: Seeing the boys in the Close Ties Leadership Program work toward and eventually achieve their dreams. “There is strength to having a counter narrative of Black men who are going off to college [and] who are fulfilling their dreams,” says Martin. “We start our boys with understanding that Black men are leaders, that Black men can be successful and do all the things that they dream of.”