Grace Lee & Shammi Quddus
Grace Lee ('10 Course 7) was the President of the MIT chapter of Habitat for Humanity (HFH). With the help of Public Service Grants, Grace Lee and MIT Habitat for Humanity volunteers have worked to provide Habitat families typically living in inadequate shelters with good homes. As HFH president, Grace Lee has transformed a small club that performed one event each year to a club that now has a large volunteer base, increased visibility, and co-sponsors a Habitat home. Last year, HFH helped to finish several homes in the surrounding areas of Boston. Grace is also the recipient of the Priscilla King Gray Award for Public Service in 2009.
Shammi Quddus ('10 Course 7) and her partner, Ejaj Ahmad, spent the summer of 2009 in Shammi's hometown of Chittagong, Bangladesh implementing their community service program, Building Bridges Through Leadership Training. It was one of two MIT projects awarded the Davis Projects for Peace Fellowship. Shammi worked to create create dialogue between different peer groups in the spirit of active citizenry, while engaging students in class lectures, reflection, volunteerism, and community service work that totaled 670 hours. Shammi and Ejaj hope to form the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center. Shammi hopes the Center will become a full-fledged training institute for young students and professionals.
