About

Our Mission at 1 Citizen at a Time –

1 Citizen at a Time mobilizes young people and community members to meet urgent local needs while strengthening civic participation. We provide essential support to new immigrants and asylum seekers, organize service initiatives and donation drives, and lead voter registration, education, and engagement efforts that empower individuals to participate fully in our democracy. Together, we create lasting change, 1 citizen at a time.

My name is Ryan, and I am a high school student and co-founder of 1 Citizen at a Time. My older brother and I built this organization around a simple goal, helping future U.S. Citizens through the naturalization process by helping them prepare for the U.S. Citizenship test. I became involved because I saw an opportunity for students like us to use our time to make that process easier for others.

Today, we continue to focus our time on our student tutoring program, which connects high school students with green card holders preparing to become U.S. Citizens. I have recruited student ambassadors to help bring this program to students at other schools so we can reach more people working toward citizenship.

I have also expanded our work into voter education and pre-registration of 16 and 17 year olds. Through voter pre-registration drives at high schools, we educate students about the opportunity to pre-register before they are old enough to vote and help eligible students through the process.

I am now working with student Ambassadors, Ajay and Ford, to bring these efforts to their own schools and reach more young people. Through 1 Citizen at a Time, I hope to continue building a network of students who are willing to take an active role in civic life across NYC and beyond.

Hi, my name is Chase and I am a co-founder of 1 Citizen at a Time. I am currently in my second year of college, but I started this foundation with my younger brother, Ryan, while I was in high school and living in New York City. My maternal and paternal grandparents are immigrants to the United States and went through the process of becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. Over my life, I have witnessed all the hard work, diversity, and dedication immigrants contribute to this country. Working with individuals preparing for their U.S. citizenship interview, I have realized the profound impact it has made on their lives. I want to be able to spread this effect and help even more people take the steps toward becoming U.S. citizens.

Growing up and having immigrant grandparents on both sides of the family, I realized how much they would have appreciated and benefited from a person or an organization that helped them through the process of becoming U.S. citizens. Whether that meant helping them with conversational skills, preparing them for the citizenship test, or even just being someone they could ask questions to in such a stressful time.

This is the genesis of 1 Citizen at a Time which dates to 2022, further supported by the thousands of asylum-seekers and immigrants arriving to NYC every month. Each with a different dream and life story, these individuals came seeking an opportunity for a new life.

I am committed to doing everything I can to try and help you along your journey, please reach out and let’s see if we can find an opportunity to work together.

My name is Ajay, and I am a high school student at Horace Mann School and an Ambassador with 1 Citizen at a Time. As I have gotten older, I have come to recognize the importance of being an active member of my community. I believe it is important for people to understand the opportunities they have to participate and make a difference. This motivated me to look for ways to become more involved myself and help others do the same.

My friendship with co-founder Ryan first connected me with 1 Citizen at a Time. In talking with Ryan about the organization, I was drawn to the idea that students our age could take responsibility for projects that have an impact beyond our own schools. This interest led me to begin volunteering as a student tutor for green card holders preparing to become U.S. citizens.

I wanted to take what I was learning and bring it to Horace Mann. I worked to bring 1 Citizen at a Time’s voter pre-registration initiative to my school, creating an opportunity for students to learn more about civic participation and the pre-registration process. Organizing these events has allowed me to introduce classmates to a part of the voting process many had never considered. For me, 1 Citizen at a Time has become a way to turn an interest in civic engagement into action.

My name is Ford P., and I am a high school student at Loyola School and an Ambassador with 1 Citizen at a Time. Growing up in New York City, I have always been surrounded by people from different backgrounds and experiences, something I have seen firsthand through years of playing club baseball. Playing alongside different teammates showed me that everyone has something to contribute and inspired me to carry those lessons beyond the field and into my community.

I was introduced to 1 Citizen at a Time through my friendship with co-founder Ryan. After learning more about the organization and its work across New York City, I saw an opportunity to get involved. I became a student tutor, working directly with green card holders preparing to become U.S. citizens. Tutoring has shown me how meaningful one-on-one support can be and how giving someone your time can help make meaningful impact in their lives as they work toward citizenship.

I also wanted to bring 1 Citizen at a Time’s work into my own school community. At Loyola, I helped organize voter pre-registration events to teach students about the opportunity to pre-register and guide eligible students through the process. Many students did not know they could pre-register before they were old enough to vote, so these events gave me the opportunity to raise awareness and help my classmates take an early step toward becoming active participants in their communities.