Carver alumni (including our students still in college) are making their mark in law, government, medicine, finance, entertainment, professional sports, technology, education, entrepreneurship, and the creative arts, among many others. Each story is unique, yet we find commonalities among the stories shared by our alumni.

These impressive women and men embrace Carver's values in their careers. They are ambitious critical thinkers who understand that achievement is not a destination but an ongoing and exciting journey.

The stories below highlight just a few of our remarkable alumni representing Carver’s legacy. We are proud of them, their achievements, and their contributions to their fields and communities. Great stories begin at Carver.

Doulsina Sandoval, a recent Carver alumna, is now pursuing her nursing degree at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. Doulsina credits the real-world experiences she gained at Carver for preparing her for college and her future career. Doulsina received the inaugural Richard Baudouin Scholarship this past June. Mr. Baudouin’s daughter, Arianna Baudouin, established this new scholarship fund in his honor.

Rosie Marshall, a dedicated alumna of Carver, has set sights on a future in Early Childhood Education at Barry University. Her remarkable journey from the halls of Carver to the promising horizons of higher education serves as a beacon of hope for students following in her footsteps. Rosie's dedication to academic excellence and her heartfelt commitment to societal change underscore her as a true inspiration for the next generation of learners. Delve deeper here into her story and the valuable lessons she has to impart to her peers. Rosie Marshall's journey embodies the determination and resilience that Carver instills in its students. As she navigates the academic landscape of Barry University, Rosie reflects on her transformative experience at Carver. This place nurtured her academic growth and shaped her into a compassionate advocate for societal change.

Rosie said, "Carver has prepared me for college in many ways. Carver has helped me develop more advanced critical thinking and problem-solving strategies and exposure to various subjects and disciplines that have helped me pursue a better and brighter future in my life path. Not to mention the common theme of diversity that I have experienced in Carver since my adolescence, which has helped me strive better in college."

Dejanah Lorthe recently graduated from Norfolk State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and will be entering medical school in the fall. During her time at NSU, she achieved many milestones. She became a member of the Beta Kappa Chi National Scientific Honor Society, and interned as a Clinical Oncology Assistant at the Hampton Proton Therapy Institute. She conducted individual research on Developmental Biology and Toxicology, focusing on aquatic organisms, which she presented at three national conferences. She proudly represented the university as a Student Ambassador. She joined multiple organizations related to her major. And she became a Spring 23’ Initiate of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Ny-Aja Boyd is a speech-language pathologist, children’s book author, aspiring university professor, and Carver alumna. Ny-Aja graduated in 2017 from North Carolina A&T State University, where she double-majored in elementary education and speech-language pathology. She then went on to receive her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Sacred Heart University. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Ny-Aja is working at a private practice outpatient clinic as a pediatric speech-language pathologist, evaluating and treating children with autism spectrum disorder, cleft palates, hearing impairments, Augmentative Alternative Communication systems, and intellectual disabilities. She will soon be pursuing her Ph.D. in speech-language pathology to achieve her dreams of becoming a university professor. But it doesn’t end there; she also hopes to open a clinic one day to provide speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy to her community. The accomplishment she’s most proud of, though? Self-publishing her first children’s book called Grandfather’s Garden, dedicated to her great-grandfather, Michael. “The Carver has always been in my family,” she explains. Her father played basketball at the Carver Community Center in high school and her mother worked there when Ny-Aja was young. She began attending Carver’s after-school programs in elementary school, jump-starting her 13-year involvement with Carver that continues to this day.

Gabi Pierre-Louis is a professional singer while attending the University of Bridgeport to achieve a lifelong dream of becoming a dentist. Gabi is part of the proud Haitian community of Norwalk. She helps her family raise money and food to send to Haiti and helps her uncle, who is a dentist, provide dental care to the poor there. Here Gabi is singing the cover song of Alicia Keys song "Good Job" for our 2021 virtual Celebrating Courage gala. This music video also features pianist Steve Sasloe who is musical director for Jose Feliciano. What you're hearing in this recording is one single take, no overdubs, no tuning, and no backing vocals. Just raw talent delivered with a lot of love from the heart.

Eric “EJ” Day” was a scholar-athlete (NCAA3) at Lasell University, being named repeatedly to the Dean’s List, being inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, and contributing to his school’s NCAA3 basketball team as a star player. In August 2023, PAEEK Kyrenia Nicosia signed EJ, beginning his pro career in Cyprus.

Jahmerikah Green-Younger was a star basketball player for Brien McMahon High School. He and his family are longtime members of the Carver community. We last wrote about Jahmerikah here when he was a senior guard for the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team when he tallied his 1,000th-career point. This update is about this former Albertus Magnus College Fearless Falcon signing a professional contract with the Western Massachusetts Zombies in the East Coast Basketball League.

Tamara Williams attended Morris College, a private, Baptist historically black college in Sumter, South Carolina. “They gave me a foundation,” Tamara said. “Morris was the place that molded me into who I am.” Tamara spent the final year and a half of her undergraduate experience at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A& M University), another historical black college and university (HBCU). She graduated cum laude in 2019. Tamara is a member of the Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Tamara is presently preparing to take the LSAC exam in order to attend law school later this year. She is also working part-time for a private law firm in Montgomery, Alabama. "Needless to say, my focus in law will be Civil Rights. Carver not only gave me one of my first jobs but supplied me with endless mentors, role models, an amazing support system, and exposure to things I never knew."

Taylor Duhart is thriving at the University of Connecticut where she is on track to earn a master's degree in Sport Management in a few months. Taylor received her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from UConn in 2019. In addition to her studies, Taylor is an Intern for the UConn Athletics Department and a Program Leader with UConn Husky Sport. As such, Taylor is creating a Preventative Maintenance Plan for all of the athletic facilities on UConn's campus. This includes preparing maintenance plans and cost analyses. Also, as a UConn Athletics Student Worker, Taylor helps her supervisors ensure the upkeep of the athletic facilities and equipment on campus. Her work includes supporting athletic games and events. As a Program Leader with Husky Sport, Taylor teaches disadvantaged elementary school students in Hartford physical literacy, nutrition, and life skills while supporting them academically as well.

Jasmine Brown exemplifies Carver’s purpose and the accomplishments of educational equity. But only Jasmine gets credit for her courage and prudent strength, and for devoting herself to a career of caring for others. Jasmine was a supervisor at a provider of residential and mental health skill-building services to people with intellectual disabilities and mental health challenges until she recently left to pursue a second graduate degree, this time at Virginia Commonwealth University. Jasmine still works in the mental health field as a counselor while she pursues a Master of Social Work degree (MSW). Following Jasmine through the years, it seems as though she looks forward to an endless and unpredictable dialogue between her potentialities and the claims of life — not only the claims she encounters but the claims she invents. And by potentialities, we mean not just her powerful intellect and booming skills, but the full range of her capacities for sensing, wondering, learning, understanding, aspiring — and valuing and tending to the needs of others.

Alexis Hooks is senior undergraduate interior design student with a minor in real estate development going into her last semester at Thomas Jefferson University. Alexis has a 4.0 GPA; she is a member of the Phi Alpha Chapter of Tau Sigma Delta, a national honor society for architecture and the allied arts; she is a member of the Gensler University Connect program where she is mentored by two Gensler employees; and Alexis is a member of the Campus Activities Board, The Black Student Union, The National Society of Leadership and Success, the International Interior Design Association, and the university’s track and field team for four consecutive years.

Trinity McFadden, a third-year student at Rochester Institute of Technology, spent last summer and fall semester working as a campaign intern for newly elected Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper. As the internship progressed, she was placed on a committee focusing on African American and veteran efforts in Colorado. Here is a story about Trinity’s first year as a criminal justice major. She was among the school’s inaugural group of Maguire Scholars. Trinity also made the Dean's List with a 4.0 GPA, and she was invited to join the school’s Honors Program. Trinity learned Russian sign language as an elective and traveled to Russia for three weeks as part of the curriculum. As someone who has demonstrated courage throughout her life, here is an image of her in Egypt that Trinity’s mother uploaded to our Courage Mosaic — we are never surprised by Trinity’s latest adventure!

Philippe Lerebours is a person of rare elegance, intellectual range and moral seriousness, whose idealism is grounded with a sense of strategy. Philippe earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from the Nicolais School of Business at Wagner College in 2019. He has since been working as a Brand Marketing Coordinator at Fairstead, a real estate investor, developer, owner and operator specializing in affordable and mixed-income housing. Fairstead is home to over 350 employees. Since its inception in 2014, Fairstead has acquired, developed or preserved more than $4 billion in assets comprised of over 15,000 units.

Shantasia Best is a 4th grade teacher in the Bridgeport Public Schools district. She graduated from Western Governors University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Elementary Education. Now studying for a graduate degree, she balances a full home life with work and her career advancement. “It was always my hope to serve communities similar to my own. I am very pleased that I can say I am indeed doing just that. In 2018, I started my career as an Instructional Interventionist in Norwalk. I was later given the opportunity to teach 4th grade in Norwalk Public Schools. I was given the opportunity to teach in Bridgeport in 2019, and I’ve been enjoying teaching in Bridgeport ever since,” Shantasia shared.

Caira Ward graduated from UConn in 2019. In the course of earning her MSW at New York University in spring 2021, she worked for seven months (until the pandemic hit) as an intern at Fudan International School in Shanghai, China, where she provided elementary students and staff with counseling, workshops, and policy on Social and Emotional Learning. Today, Caira is an intern at the Rowan Center in Stamford, an organization that provides counseling and support services to victims of sexual assault and strives to eliminate sexual violence through community-wide education programs.

Davanté  Thomas lives Carver values. Since graduating from college about a year and a half ago, Davanté has been working as a Performance Specialist at BlueStreak Sports Training in Stamford. Davanté is a highly credentialed trainer helping athletes ranging from elementary school students to professional level adults achieve their maximum athletic potential.

Jeffrey Joseph is a third-year J.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Upon graduation he will be joining Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as a first-year Associate handling complex transactional and regulatory matters for the firm’s Energy Industry Group. Having just served there as a Summer Associate, he will be working in their Charlotte, North Carolina office next year.

Marcus Hooks (and our update here) is Co-Founder and President of Six Love, a new nonprofit organization that offers tennis programs throughout Fairfield County. Though Six Love serves people of all ages, Marcus specializes in introducing young people, especially minority youth, to the joys and benefits of the sport. In addition to the Carver Community Center, Six Love partners with local town parks, Boys and Girls Clubs, and youth camps, among other partners. Marcus also works at Darien Kings Highway Tennis and is a tennis pro at the New Canaan Racquet Club.

Aisha Miles graduated Summa Cum Laude from Howard University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, and for the past year has been working for Achievement First as a Behavior Specialist. As a psychological counselor, Aisha helps those with disabilities or problems that impair learning or social functions to succeed in school and in life. During her years at Howard University, Aisha was a member of the Psi Chi International Honor Society, Beta Kappa Chi National Scientific Honor Society, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. She also served as secretary of a college-prep mentor organization called CHILL (acronym for College Has Its Life Lessons) that was based on the Howard campus. 

Isiah Gaddy is close to earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Isiah has been a member of the Shaw cross country team and of the Kappa Alpha Si Fraternity. Isiah just finished a 10-week Business Transformation/Information Technology Internship at Lenovo in North Carolina. Lenovo is a multinational technology company.

Kimberly Duhart is a 3rd grade teacher in East Hartford. She received her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from UConn this past May. She received her B.S. in Elementary Education at UConn last year. She was awarded the Degnan Family Scholarship, Irene P. and Emanuel A. Makiaris Scholarship, Cohen Student Leadership Scholarship, and numerous Carver scholarships. During her years at UConn, Kimberly served as President of UConn’s Leadership in Diversity, a student-led mentoring program that helps maintain and encourage confidence and success in students of color as they pursue careers in education. She also served as a member of UConn Student Support Services (SSS), mentoring students who were first-generation to college, from low-income families, and/or from populations underrepresented in higher education with access to the university; she provided these students with services to support their goal of graduation, and their academic, professional, and personal growth at UConn and beyond.