Jeff Lindor decided to attend Milano after working in health care on issues surrounding the affordable care act. After a brief stint in finance, Lindor was ready to do more. He visited Darrick Hamilton’s Racial Economic Disparities course and decided to pursue a Master of Science in Urban Policy Analysis and Management (now the Public and Urban Policy program).
Lindor asserts that among the most important lessons learned while studying at Milano was understanding how community works from the standpoint of policy and systems. Lindor recalls that “Milano gave me the why and the how to make real change in the world.”
Lindor went on to start his own company based on work he began through Milano’s social entrepreneurship curriculum. Lindor took elements learned in a group project to start Gentlemen’s Factory —an incubator giving men of color the blueprint for success. Lindor’s passion for this project stems from the idea that men of color often grow in isolation. Gentlemen’s Factory combats this by building meaningful community. The New School allowed Lindor to build a framework for how to provide greater services to support his community and find the resources to make the venture sustainable. Lindor welcomes contact from current students interested in community-focused work.
