Donor Profile: Nalleli Sagardia Hassan ’07 and Mo Hassan ’05
Nalleli Sagardia Hassan '07 and Mo Hassan '05 met as first-gen college students and Posse scholarship awardees. Today, they help provide access to a Dickinson education for students who may not otherwise be able to attend college.
Couple helps increase access for young Dickinsonians
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
The first semester of college can feel overwhelming for any student. For NYC natives Nalleli Sagardia Hassan ’07 and Khwaja Mohammed Hassan ’05, it was an even more momentous transition. “It’s a unique experience, because Dickinson and Carlisle were very different worlds from where we grew up—demographically and culturally,” says Nalleli, who came to Carlisle from East New York, Brooklyn. “It was very much a time of learning, transition and opportunity.”
Smart and ambitious, they thrived. Now, this Dickinson couple helps talented young Dickinsonians find similar pathways to success.
“We’ve always been go-getters, but thinking back to ourselves at 10 or 15 years old, we realize that we’re living the life of our wildest dreams."
Khwaja—nicknamed “Mo,” a shortening of his middle name—grew up in Queens, the child of hardworking immigrants from Bangladesh. In high school, Mo earned a scholarship through the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit organization that identifies and trains high-school students with academic excellence and leadership potential and connects them with prestigious colleges and universities that offer full-tuition leadership scholarships. As a Posse scholar at Dickinson, he declared a psychology major.
During spring of Mo’s junior year, Nalleli visited campus with fellow new Posse awardees. They clicked from the start, and when she arrived on campus the following fall as a new student, they began to date.
Nalleli had chosen Dickinson because of its strength in international education, and she was eager to explore the worlds outside New York City and the U.S. But her first weeks on campus were flooded with homesickness. It also was the first time she realized what it was like to be a minority in a predominantly white space. “I learned a little about what life was like outside of NYC, and about how I fit into this world—how I can navigate it,” she says.
Like Mo, she discovered that close friendships with fellow Posse students were lifelines. So was Joyce Bylander, a longtime Posse mentor affectionately known among Posse scholars as “mama bear” and “Dean B.” “Dean B. is very passionate about providing access to people like me,” says Nalleli, who recently reconnected with Bylander via Zoom. “She inspires you to elevate and bring your full self to the table.”
Nalleli got involved with Alpha Lambda Delta, Alpha Phi Omega, Expanding Horizons, Latin American Club, Posse and UMOJA, and she was also the recipient of the Martin Luther King Leadership Award and the Charles A. Dana Scholarship. Both she and Mo worked on a research project focusing on the historic nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island. Both also completed internships at top institutions on Wall Street.
"We give back because we want to help open those doors that were opened for us.”
While Mo launched a finance career in Manhattan, Nalleli completed her final two undergrad years as a double major in international business & management and Italian studies. A junior year in Italy further deepened her ability to flourish in any environment. “Dickinson really set me up for success as I entered the finance industry, which was very different at that time, in terms of diversity and inclusion,” she says. The couple married in 2011 and settled in Queens.
Today, Nalleli is a human-resources executive at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. And, after 15 years on Wall Street, Mo is co-founder of Meanwhile Back in Queens (MBIQ), an original-content and lifestyle-product brand focused on promoting the vibrant borough they call home.
The Hassans remain connected with Posse alumni, whom they regard as their closest friends. And after Bylander’s retirement as vice president and dean of student life in 2018, they joined with fellow Posse alumni to establish the Joyce A. Bylander Scholarship Fund. Connecting with young Dickinsonians with similar experiences is also important to the couple. Nalleli recently hosted students at her firm to learn more about internship opportunities in finance, and she occasionally volunteers time to speak with current students.
“We’ve always been go-getters, but thinking back to ourselves at 10 or 15 years old, we realize that we’re living the life of our wildest dreams,” says Nalleli. “We’re so grateful for the experiences that Posse and Dickinson have given to us, and we’re both very passionate about giving back where our hearts are. So we give back because we want to help open those doors that were opened for us.”
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Published November 15, 2024