Director of Operations, Comprehensive Development, Inc.

Nafissa Hannat came to New York City as a "runaway wife." She fled an abusive husband, leaving behind her home and middle-class life in Morocco working in the corporate sector, to start over in America with her son. Speaking no English, she cleaned houses and worked as a waitress to earn a living and put herself through school. After attaining her Masters of Social Work, she wanted to help young people overcome the circumstances she herself had faced and joined the staff at Comprehensive Development where she is credited with changing and saving the lives of numerous students.

Comprehensive Development provides tutoring and social services at a public school for 800 students ages 17 to 21. There Nafissa counsels teens, half of them immigrants, who are trying to finish school and make a life for themselves. Despite enormous obstacles, including homelessness, teenage pregnancy, and limited English, these students succeed. The graduation rate is 90 percent and the Regents pass rate is 87 percent as compared to 59 percent citywide.