The City Tutors’ Partnership with the S Jay Levy Fellowship: Supporting Talent, Building Impact
This past summer, The City Tutors partnered with the S Jay Levy Fellowship to welcome City College Fellow Shale Lucas to our software engineering team. As we build technology to scale and meet increasing demand, Shale, in meeting the fellowship’s 280-hour commitment, contributed over 220 hours across three critical areas: Platform Security to strengthen system integrity, Tutor Tools by developing a feature for viewing past session logs, and User Account Management by enhancing the “forgot username” function for families with multiple accounts. His work has greatly improved our platform’s usability for both students and tutors.
Thanks to the S Jay Levy Fellowship, Shale was able to complete these hours with financial support, while gaining real-world experience in a collaborative tech environment. Our partnership provided him with meaningful opportunities to make an impact and engage in projects similar to those he might encounter on a professional tech team.
Michael Chin, Chief Program Success Officer, The City Tutors:
We rely heavily on volunteers to help us build and improve our web app, and the S Jay Levy Fellowship brought Shale’s critical support to this effort. As one of the top 5 searched volunteer tutoring programs in NYC, demand for our services is high. The more technical volunteer hours we have, the faster we can respond to user needs and make crucial improvements to our platform. Reducing any barriers to entry is essential—both for students relying on our support and volunteers who power our work. Shale’s contributions in platform security, accessibility, and responsiveness made a meaningful difference in helping learners engage fully with our program and allow us to continue to scale.
Garri Rivkin, Executive Director, The City Tutors:
The S Jay Levy Fellowship is a tremendous asset to The City Tutors. This partnership allows fellows like Shale to take on real projects that enhance the experience for NYC’s learners and lead to meaningful improvements in our platform. We want CUNY students like Shale to be fully prepared for their post-college careers, knowing how critical hands-on experiences are for their competitiveness in the job market. At the same time, as a small organization, we need sufficient time to train fellows and allow them to tackle complex projects. This fellowship supports our growth and provides students with the substantial, career-building experience they need to excel.
Lavie Margolin, Managing Director, S Jay Levy Fellowship:
The City Tutors provided a deeply meaningful experience to our fellow, Shale Lucas, over the summer of 2024. Shale was able to apply the technology skills applied in the classroom to support tutor and student success at the organization. The City Tutors was amazing to work with- this opportunity was created uniquely to meet Shale’s skillset and challenge him in just a matter of weeks. We are proud to have worked with the organization for a number of years.
Shale Lucas, S Jay Levy Fellow and Intern:
My experience at The City Tutors was incredibly rewarding. Not only did I have the opportunity to learn from experienced engineers with various backgrounds, but I also contributed to a web application that challenged me to refine my problem-solving skills. Through this project, I honed my software engineering expertise by working on an established codebase with real-world impact. The chance to help families and students across NYC gain access to tutoring services made the work meaningful. None of this would have been possible without my participation in the S Jay Levy Fellowship.
About The City Tutors
The City Tutors is a community-based organization with deep ties to City College, dedicated to providing free tutoring and professional mentoring to learners across NYC, especially those from first-generation, immigrant, and historically underserved backgrounds. Since our founding, we have served over 8,500 unique learners and launched more than 1,200 professional mentorships this year alone, alongside 1,600 hours of tutoring and 80 mentorship events. Through partnerships like the S Jay Levy Fellowship, we continue to expand our mission to support NYC’s learners.