Lesny Suazo was born in Tela Atlantida, Honduras in Central America. She attended school in her home country, where she only completed her education through the tenth grade. When Lesny arrived in the United States in 1986 she had plans of returning to school and getting her education, however she had to put her plans on hold, because she became a mother shortly after her arrival. Eight years later, Lesny decided to continue her education by completing her GED, which she proudly received in 1994. After working in many fields: such as, a Personal Care Aide, Child Care Worker, Navy Civilian Advocate, and Certified Nurse Assistant, Lesny realized that she was not fulfilling her desire to succeed and she decided to enroll at Hostos Community College in the spring of 2009.
At the same time that she started her Hostos journey, Lesny became a member of the Hostos Student Leadership Academy. In her early experiences in the Academy, Lesny was engaged in community advocacy and developed a love for it. She was a participant in the first ever Hostos Emerging Leaders Program Thursday workshop series, participating in team building exercises, conceptualizing conflict resolution strategies and developing a strong sense of community, valuing collaboration and empowering herself and others with a desire to share her cultural values and experiences with others. Over the course of the last few years, Lesny has worked both on the Hostos Community College campus and off, helping to build connections between community based cultural organizations and artists, performers and musicians from the Garifuna tradition.
Lesny has been one of the more proficient members of the Leadership Academy in her time at Hostos, by exploring volunteer activities in the community and providing campus support to students who needed assistance to navigate the waters of what can sometimes be a challenging experience. Lesny has provided an incredible number of hours of service during the past three years at activities that range from feeding the hungry at Part of the Solution Soup Kitchen, the Love Gospel Assembly Church and at the Yorkville Common Pantry, supporting students with disabilities at their annual ADA BBQ celebration for the Americans with Disabilities Act at Queens College in 2011 and 2012, visiting with and comforting the elderly in Washington Heights at Isabella Geriatric Facility and singing holiday songs to senior citizens at the Chinatown Senior Citizen Center, painting murals with the Groundswell Project in Sunset Park Brooklyn, working to improve Bicycle paths in the Bronx with the Department of Transportation and the Bronx River Alliance, helping Bronx residents improve their diets through her advocacy at the Harvest Home Farmer's Market and working with children at P.S. 57 on the MLK Day Jr. National Day of Service in 2011.
Lesny has provided on campus assistance as a member of the Student Orientation Services Team by working at Fall and Spring Registration each year, providing campus tours to students who are new to the college, serving as a representative student leader at Hostos Welcome Days, Orange Spirit Days, New Student Orientation Sessions at College Open Houses. She has also served for the last two years as the Chair of the Student Leadership Academy Interview Committee, was a member of the International Dinner Committee in 2011, was a member of the Winter Workshops Committees in 2011 and 2013 and has given insights to students pursuing scholarships at annual Scholarship Orientations that take place each September in the Savoy Multipurpose Room. She also participated in the first ever Hostos Phonathon to raise funds for student scholarships.
Lesny has also represented the Academy and Hostos at the St. Ann’s Church Summer Program, The College Advisor Campus Tours-Conference on Civility, The Domestic Abuse Conference with Christine Quinn, The City Council Education Hearing in 2012, The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Asian Caucus Conference in Albany in 2012, The United States Hispanic Leadership Conference-Northeast in 2009 and 2011 and at the CUNY Emerging Leaders Conference in 2010 and 2011. Lesny was also selected to be a part of the Summer Study Abroad Program to the Dominican Republic in 2011.
Lesny is also the recipient of the Bronx CUNY Scholarship and The Student Leadership Academy Non-Traditional Leader Award for 2011.
Lesny’s Advocacy at the Harvest Home Farmer’s Market led to her being selected to do an internship with that organization, which eventually led to summer employment with the not-for-profit organization and it has inspired Lesny to think about the many ways that she can make a n impact on society through her advocacy and education in the areas of community health.
http://www.harvesthomefm.org/