The Bonner Foundation is excited to announce the 2025 Fall Bonner Congress taking place on Friday to Sunday on October 10-12 at Loyola University Chicago’s Retreat & Ecology Campus in Woodstock, Illinois (an hour outside Chicago). Bonner Congress is a student focused gathering of approximately 150 Bonner student representatives across the 60+ campuses in the Bonner Network and invited guests from national and graduate school partner organizations, alumni, and other attendees.
Each Bonner Program selects one to two* Bonner students to serve as Bonner Congress representatives to attend this annual gathering and represent their program and campus year-round. The selection of Bonner Congress Representatives varies by school but the students are often members of Bonner Leadership Team and support the quality of their programs and campus-wide engagement. *There will be additional spaces available to send more than two students, on a first come, first served basis upon request.
At the gathering, Bonner Congress Reps engage in networking, personal and program development, leadership training, gain a sense of the national network, provide student voice at the national level, and take part in planning on key Bonner Network initiatives. Bonner Congress often focuses on improving students’ knowledge and skills, equipping them to mobilize their peers, and developing innovative ideas for strengthening their program’s approach to student development, building a campus-wide culture of service, or making measurable impact on community partnerships.
This year’s conference will emphasize student leadership, capacity building and career connections with exciting and invigorating sessions, including all-group sessions with keynote speakers, skill and knowledge-based elective workshops, a networking fair with national nonprofit organizations and graduate schools, formal and informal opportunities to exchange ideas with other Bonner Congress representatives, and social and community building activities.
We are also accepting workshop session and keynote speaker proposals! For workshops, we seek sessions that address the conference theme and relevant topics for the Bonner Program and community engagement. The workshop submission link is forthcoming. We also seek student keynote speakers who can inspire and motivate other Bonners to take action and continue to make a positive impact on their communities. Student keynote and workshop proposals are due Wednesday, September 17th.
For more information about Bonner Congress, accommodations, travel, and the tentative agenda, please visit: https://www.bonner.org/fall-2025-bonner-congress-meeting
If you have any questions, please contact Jen Gonzalez Reyes, Program Manager, at jengr@bonner.org or Liz Brandt, Community Engagement Director, at liz@bonner.org.