Women’s Resource Center and Center for Career Development Welcome Staff Leaders

Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York (BMCC/CUNY) welcomes two directors to help develop programming and to enhance the learning experiences for students.

BMCC welcomes Tammie Velasquez as the new manager of the Women’s Resource Center, which promotes and sponsors activities supporting women’s health and well-being. Special programs, seminars, and workshops are designed to educate and bring awareness to the entire BMCC Community.

Velasquez, who officially starts on May 15, joins BMCC after serving as Assistant Director of Student Engagement of Performing Arts and Culture at Columbia University, where she mentored students with navigating stress-culture, identity, wellness and mental health. She also served as an advisor to 27 performance arts-based student organizations, assisting with productions, event planning, group dynamics and leadership. Velasquez also served as a senior coordinator of the Gender Equity Center and senior coordinator of the Latinx Community Programming of Multicultural Center, both located at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Velasquez also worked as a residence life coordinator in the Office of Residential Education at the University of Southern California. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gender, Ethnicity and Multicultural Studies (with an emphasis on Women’s Studies), from California State Polytechnic University; and a Master of Education degree in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the University of Southern California.

“For the past 26 years the WRC has provided programs, services, mentorship and support while creating life changing impact on our students,” says Velasquez. “I hope to collaboratively continue this work and honor the roots, legacy and rich history of the center, while also implementing new programs, events, and initiatives. I am excited to weave in my strong commitment to intersectionality, intersectional feminisms, social justice, gender equity, a learn-by-doing philosophy, artivism and leadership.  I hope to implement new signature programs, include models of mujerista, womanist and pinayism work and communal collaboration, as well as create a place of empowerment, transformation, healing, intersectional lens and creativity.”

Christopher Thunberg joined BMCC on May 6, as the new director of the Center for Career Development, which prepares all BMCC students and alumni to make informed decisions about their careers through counseling, teaching, and connection to networking opportunities.

“Having worked as a career services professional and leader for over 15 years, I’m excited to bring my experience, my passion for student success, and my eagerness for innovation to support and build on the great work that has already been done here at the Center for Career Development and BMCC,” Thunberg said. “I’m a firm believer that engaging students early in their career exploration and planning is one of the key factors to great career outcomes, and I am looking forward to partnering with my colleagues across campus to support robust student engagement.”

Most recently, Thunberg worked at Yeshiva University, where he served as director of counseling and programming for their Career Center. In this role, he conducted strategic planning to assess student needs and developed and implemented annual schedules of more than 50 career related programs to foster career readiness for undergraduate and graduate students in Business, Liberal Arts and STEM programs.

Prior to working at Yeshiva, Thunberg served as associate director of career services at the Wasserman Center for Career Development at New York University and as Senior Career Counselor in the Office of Career Development at SUNY Purchase College. Thunberg has also worked with the New York Teaching Fellows, Accenture and Sectorbase.com. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Psychology from New York University and a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.