Youth Advocacy and Civic Engagement

Bintou Kone is the first-generation college graduate from her family. She is from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and is the eldest of four siblings. Getting into school was very hard for her, because her father (like many people in her country) does not believe in education for girls. He believes that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, that their ideas do not matter, that they should not question anything a man says or decides. However, her curiosity, determination, and passion led a high school teacher to plead for my cause with her father. She eventually enrolled in school, and after all kinds of hardships, earned a high school diploma   

She knew that she had to leave Burkina Faso to acquire the best education that she could get. Miraculously, she won the DVD lottery visa to come to the United States. She moved to the U.S in 2011 and was faced with many challenges, including a language barrier, culture shock, and numerous financial crises. However, she was determined to go back to school. She spent two years taking ESL classes while taking on a full-time job. Later, she applied at the Borough of Manhattan Community College where she obtained her associate degree in science. She was also among the five students in Stem fields to receive full scholarship to attend New York University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology in May 2018. She worked as an assistant research scientist at NYU’s Biology Department while attending NYU. She is fascinated about science and stem cells research.

Besides her research experience, she is also actively involved in her community. Her true passion lies in both education and health care field. Her vision is to reimagine and redefine education to create more educational equity for every child.  In her quest for educational equity, she founded a non-profit organization called Bink Charity International where she serves as CEO and president. The goal of her organization is to provide support and educational resources that fit students’ needs and allow them to learn, grow, influence, and lead. She is an advocate for a just society, she thrives to bridge the opportunity gap and to turn obstacles into opportunities. During her stay in college, both at BMCC and NYU, she was involved in different school activities and volunteer services with the goal is help others attain their full potential by providing them the resources and guidance they need. She also works diligently to expand educational opportunities to people. She works to develop strategies, and tools that help students improve students’ academic performances. She currently serves as the executive assistant at the JOURNEY FARAFINA, which is a collection of interactive educational games that helps learners, especially in ESL classrooms, systematically learn English and develop skills such as brainstorming, organizational, ordering, supporting details by proving, time management.  She joined the NAACP Mid-Manhattan branch two years ago, and currently serves as an executive board member and as a chair of the Youth Engagement at her NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch. Part of her responsibilities include organizing community outreach and events to get youth involves in their communities—such as membership drive, voter registration drive, creating a GOTV plan, and taking youth to committee board meeting.  She organized different community activities including membership drive, voter registration drive, and GOTV. Bintou Kone is passionate about making change in her community and is looking forward to working with you.