At 13, Manuel Navedo packed his bags and bid farewell to his parents and six siblings in Harlem for a new adventure.
He earned a spot at Winchester High School, a boarding school in Massachusetts for academically gifted students, where the application process included a competitive interview and campus visit.
Leaving home was daunting, but Manuel knew this move would benefit his future. Instead of living with his siblings, he now shared a home with seven boys from across the country. The transition wasn’t easy.
“I looked different from everyone else; I spoke differently from everyone else,” he said. “At some points I thought differently. It was a huge adjustment in terms of understanding the world outside of Harlem. I faced a lot of discrimination in the beginning, and I was homesick.”
Though his parents reminded him he could come home at any time, Manuel stayed. Over time, he made close friends and discovered a love of sports – basketball, baseball, football, and especially wrestling. In his sophomore year, he made the varsity team, which went undefeated in his senior year and won a state title.
After graduation, Manuel attended Rutgers University, majoring in sports management and economics with hopes of working in the front office for a sports team. But after struggling to break into the industry, he decided to take a position at Vibrant Emotional Health, an organization providing mental health services throughout New York City.
There, Manuel worked with young people ages 16 to 21 who were pursuing high school equivalency diplomas. This move would inform the rest of his career, and he found that working with young people was his superpower.
He excelled in the role, moving into workforce development — helping students build job-readiness skills, write resumes, and connect with corporate partners for internships and jobs. He also began supporting students with intellectual disabilities and mental health challenges, educating himself on how best to serve them.
When the pandemic hit, Manuel was ready for a new chapter. He had often passed Children’s Aid sites in the Bronx, and when a position opened in 2022 for program director at the Whitney Young Jr. Campus, he jumped at the chance.
Though he had never worked in a school before, the role gave him the opportunity to lead a team of facilitators and work directly with students. In 2024, he was promoted to assistant community school director and this past summer, he transitioned to the community school director role.
In addition to strong academics, under Manuel’s leadership, the team at the Bronx community school have cultivated meaningful relationships and exposed students to new opportunities.
“That’s my favorite thing – being able to give them different perspectives on life and helping them find their own voice,” he said. “They understand that they don’t have to take on challenges alone. They have me, and they have my team.”
Manuel launched a campus cheer team, and students competed in their first cheer competitions last year. He has also helped expand campus sports teams, introducing volleyball, boxing, swimming, and this fall, tennis.
“That’s one of the biggest reasons I do what I do,” he said. “When I was growing up, I had to look outside of my community to get those opportunities. I want to make sure that we’re able to offer those things here – even with economic challenges, the stigmas that exist within the community, and all the barriers. When you look at the socioeconomic statistics in the Bronx, it can feel like a downer. But I want to be able to close the gap.”
