AmeriCorps Alums Bahga Ahmed, Kelly Lee, and Daniel Nieves will join a nationwide network of Segal Fellows, hosted by The Eli J. & Phyllis S. Segal Citizen Leadership Program at Brandeis University.
WASHINGTON, DC (October 14, 2025) - Service Year Alliance today announced, in partnership with the Eli J. & Phyllis N. Segal Citizen Leadership Program, the winners of the 2025 AmeriCorps Alums Segal Leadership Award: Bahga Ahmed, Kelly Lee, and Daniel Nieves. Their selection inducts them into lifelong membership as Segal Fellows. The Segal Program, hosted by The Institute for Economic and Racial Equity at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, inspires and activates generations of civic and community leaders across sectors, issue areas, and lived experiences, including alumni of national service programs. Their lifelong Fellows are citizens of the world who uplift equitable systems and create a more just world through connection and action.
“Bahga, Kelly, and Daniel are deeply deserving of this recognition and embody the spirit of service that Eli and Phyllis Segal championed as lifelong citizen leaders,” shared Kristen Bennett, CEO of Service Year Alliance. “As AmeriCorps alums, each of the awardees brings lived experience, leadership, and a deep commitment to service that strengthens the communities they serve. Service Year Alliance is honored to celebrate their impact and proud to present this fellowship to each of them.”
Bahga Ahmed, a 2025 AmeriCorps Alums Segal Fellow, draws upon her experience as a refugee to the United States and first generation college student to ensure others can live with dignity, stability, and opportunity. Through a service year with New American Pathways, Bahga helped newly arrived refugees and immigrants find employment and education, access healthcare, and connect to their new communities. Currently, Bahga is a senior at Georgia State University and serves as an administrative assistant with Catholic Charities. As a Segal Fellow, Bahga is eager to share her expertise in refugee integration, closing the digital divide, and building systems that create opportunity, continuing the same cycle of support that once changed her life.
Kelly Lee, a 2025 AmeriCorps Alums Segal Fellow, is a first-generation college graduate, two-time AmeriCorps alum, and aspiring clinical psychologist. Growing up in Washington, D.C., Kelly saw firsthand how a lack of investment in education, mental health, and community safety affected her family and peers. Motivated to make a difference for other students, she went on to complete back-to-back service years with City Year DC. As a 2025 Segal Fellow, Kelly aims to strengthen her capacity as a citizen leader by integrating service, research, and policy to improve behavioral health outcomes for youth and families in Washington, D.C.
Daniel Nieves, a 2025 AmeriCorps Alums Segal Fellow, is an educator at the City University of New York and Mercy University. Daniel brings a lifelong commitment to equity, inclusion, and community empowerment to his work in education and public service. Through his AmeriCorps service with the Office of the Mayor and NYC Service at NYC Parks, he led community engagement, volunteer coordination, and environmental stewardship initiatives throughout New York City, with a focus on the Bronx. His work centers on building partnerships between institutions and communities to strengthen participation, sustainability, and civic leadership. As a Segal Fellow, Daniel looks forward to cultivating long-term relationships and advancing shared leadership rooted in service and equity.
Awardees were determined through a competitive process, which included nearly 60 AmeriCorps alums from across the country. As Segal Fellows, Bahga, Kelly, and Daniel will join a network of 171 other Segal Fellows working to make a difference in their communities across sectors and issue areas. The Segal Program organizes fellows in cohorts to inspire peer-to-peer learning, complete a strengths-based curriculum, take part in ongoing development opportunities, and gain access to a network of mentors and change agents focused on building more resilient and connected communities.
“The Segal Program is thrilled to welcome Bahga, Kelly, and Daniel as lifelong Segal Fellows,” said Susie Flug-Silva, Director of the Eli J. & Phyllis N. Segal Citizen Leadership Program. “Over the past decade-and-a-half, we’ve cultivated a vibrant network of civic leaders committed to advancing equity, justice, and meaningful change across communities and issue areas. We are eager to welcome Bahga, Kelly, and Daniel into the Segal Fellows community, to learn with and from them, and to work together to create a more just world.”
The award was established in honor of Eli Segal, and his wife Phyllis. Often described as the "father of AmeriCorps,” Eli Segal served as the first CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and under his leadership AmeriCorps was created. The Program is based at The Institute for Economic and Racial Equity at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
For more information about the award: visit our website or contact Susie Flug-Silva at [email protected] & Nick Zevely at [email protected].
