Grace Chao, a freshman from Woodside, N.Y., majoring in biochemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received the Samuel P. Peabody Award for Community Activism from YouthAction NYC, a program of Citizen’s Committee for Children of New York.
“Receiving the Peabody Award is a great honor,” Chao said. “However, this award is not only a recognition of my achievements; it is a recognition of the strength of the YouthAction NYC program.
“I could not have accomplished all I had in the community without the opportunities and guidance that I had along the way,” Chao said.
“Thanks to YouthAction NYC, I was able to grow not only as a leader but also as an individual,” she said.
“I came to hone my strengths, to understand my weaknesses, and, more importantly, to discover I was able to create change,” Chao said.
Chao also was named a 2009 Presidential Scholar by the administration of President Barack Obama, an honor limited to 141 high-school students nationwide.
YouthAction NYC is open to public and private high-school students throughout New York City’s five boroughs.
It aims to bring the perspectives of a diverse group of young people to the issues that affect them and challenges them to make the city a better place for children, youth and families.