Every summer, the Bonner Foundation welcomes full-time undergraduate interns who expand the capacity of our team and contribute to key national initiatives. This article highlights one of the projects completed this summer that focused on leveraging the talents and capacities of the national Bonner Alumni Network to support students’ career connections and professional growth. Building on the existing infrastructure of the Career Connections initiative, National Summer Interns, J.P. Liddy ‘26 (Oberlin College) and Kayla Rogers ‘25 (Centre College), working closely with Liz Brandt, Director of Community Engagement, launched the National Bonner Alumni Advisor (NBAA) program. This work included securing thirty new National Bonner Alumni Advisors across the eight career sectors by conducting outreach to over 140 Bonner Alumni, developing infrastructure to support both students and alumni advisors, and crafting a communications plan to ensure these resources are accessible to students and campuses.
An Alumni Engagement Interest Survey conducted in Spring of 2025 revealed that 79% of Bonner Alumni were interested in providing one-on-one advising to current students and fellow alumni. In response, the Bonner Foundation prioritized building infrastructure for alumni engagement to foster connections with students for career development. This involved collecting information to showcase job profiles—now featured in a National Bonner Alumni Advisor Directory organized by career sector. The profiles highlight each advisor’s career path, Bonner journey, and offer meaningful insights and guidance.
To aid in developing students awareness of the new National Bonner Alumni Advisor program, Kayla developed a Student Toolkit: Career Connections to share resources and expectations for student-alumni relations. The Student Toolkit includes communications templates for reaching out for resume support, connecting to professionals in the field, and requesting informational interviews. In connection to this student professionalism preparation, intern Naya Adla developed a comprehensive LinkedIn Profile Guide to help Bonners showcase their service and leadership experiences professionally and authentically. The guide includes step-by-step instructions, sample language, and facilitation tips that campuses can use in workshops to support their students in telling their Bonner story.
"Contributing to the career connections initiative was a privilege as a recent graduate. After spending my senior year at Centre College forging a path to alumni relations on the leadership team, transitioning to helping the foundation with similar efforts has equipped me with tools that have already enhanced my personal career search and energizes me to utilize this network as I enter the work force." -Kayla Rogers
Alongside the Student Toolkit, J.P. created a set of resources for alumni advisors to streamline communications including recommendations for the National Bonner Alumni Advisor role to prepare advisors for connecting with students.
“It has been a privilege to witness the meticulous care that goes into building these networks for the benefit of Bonner students. I applied to this internship because of my deep reverence for the Bonner Foundation and its unique model for providing life-changing opportunities and support to their students, and when I begin my position as the Bonner Senior Intern at Oberlin this fall, it will be my top priority to see that all of our scholars take full advantage of the incredible resources this Foundation has given us.” -J.P. Liddy
To amplify the visibility of the National Bonner Alumni Advisor program, J.P. and Kayla also designed eight social media carousel posts featuring a total of fifty-six graphic slides highlighting two National Bonner Alumni Advisors, one Bonner graduate school partner, and one national partner in each career sector.
This summer’s project continues to lay the groundwork for building infrastructure and serving as a replicable model for how to leverage the Bonner Alumni Network to support students’ career development, ultimately shaping the next generation of civic leaders.
Click the button to learn more about the career sectors and connect with National Bonner Alumni Advisors.