2020-21 Emerging Leaders Cohort

Bonner Professional development Seminar Series

In 2020-21, these aspiring Emerging Leaders are participating in the Bonner Foundation’s National Community of Practice through the Bonner Professional Development Seminar Series. These ten individuals plays a major role in supporting the Bonner Program and campus-wide community engagement at their respective institutions and communities across the Bonner Network. As students, these Emerging Leaders are passionate community engagement activists that hold leadership positions across their institutions and in their various communities. In their respective roles, they serve as volunteer managers, marketing and communication gurus, overseers of fundraising initiatives and grant writings, program developers, and evidence based community engagement researchers.

The Emerging Leader Series is designed as a learning community for community engagement practitioners to advance the knowledge, skills, and professional development of participants. Through web-based seminars, Emerging Leaders will engage with theory and case studies, and discuss application and practice at colleges and universities around the country. The commitment involves attending, reading and preparing for the three core and at least three elective seminars. Through their self-designed projects, to be completed later in the year, these Emerging Leaders will also create new knowledge and resources for their peers.

These Emerging Leaders are ambitious and fearless in their pursuit to grow, learn, and take on leadership responsibilities. It is our hope that their participation in this series will open new doors for their collegiate leadership and post-college professional advancement. They are great candidates to tap for committees, fellowships, projects, and program development. They are Emerging Leaders who are the ready to lead now. To learn more about the Bonner Professional Development Seminar Series, please visit here. Learn more about the 20-21 Emerging Leader cohort below.

Mishal Ali

Bonner Leadership Team: Congress Representative at DePauw University

Mishal is a junior majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Computer Science and Mathematic at DePauw University. Mishal is originally from Islamabad, Pakistan and moved to the United States in 2018. Mishal serves as the Volunteer Coordinator of Programs at Castlemakers, Inc. where she works to enhance the educational, grade-level performance or retention through technology, and train the staff and volunteers in using and gaining hands-on experience with the practicality of technology. She hopes to become an expert in Bioinformatics. A fun fact about me is that she speaks four different languages.

Ali E. Gumus

Bonner Leadership Team: Congress Representative at DePauw University

Ali is a sophomore from Terre Haute, IN double-majoring in Economics and Political Science at DePauw University. Ali serves as the Congress Representative for his program. Ali has worked to enhance his information-collecting skills when he helped compiled narratives from DePauw alumni of color and networked with other universities to learn how they can support students of color. He is fluent in English and Turkish, reads and writes Arabic, and has basic knowledge of Chinese and Spanish. Ali hobbies include playing piano, drawing (charcoal pencil generally), playing table tennis, exercising, and reading.

Esmeralda Mendiola

Bonner Leadership Team: Senior Intern at Earlham College

Esme is a senior from Houston, TX double-majoring in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) and Politics at Earlham College. Through her service, Esme wish to use her degrees to create an educational curricula that focuses on the intersectionality of issues in the world and how such curricula cane be utilize to implement change within our society. As a Senior Intern, Esme serves as the Freshman seminars teaching assistant, where she help students navigate the intricacies of being a college student while providing support during difficult situations. She also oversees the management of the GivePulse Community Engagement platform that her Bonner program uses.

Robert Redinger

Bonner Leadership Team: Finance Manager at Waynesburg University

Robert is a junior from Pittsburg, PA majoring in Finance at Waynesburg University. He is also a member of the Honors Program at Waynesburg. Roberts serves as the program Finance Manager and the site leader for the local Waynesburg Senior Center. As a business major Robert interested in the way economics impact everyday lives and hopes to end up in a leadership position in the future with an ethical company. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, exploring, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Maria A. Guevara Carpio

Bonner Leadership Team: Senior Intern at Rutgers University, New Brunswick

Maria is a senior majoring in Public Health and minoring in Business Administration at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Maria is originally from Peru and moved to the United States six years ago. As a Bonner, Maria has worked with the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market and the Community Health Promotions Program on food insecurity and domestic violence. Maria is currently applying to graduate programs for Social Work. She hopes to learn about clinical practice and research generational patterns across families.

Sabrina JAYNES

Bonner Leadership Team: Assisting Director of Programming at the University of Nevada, Reno

Sabrina is a sophomore from Las Vegas,NV triple-majoring in Gender, Race, and Identity, Business Management, and Economics, with a minor in Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Sabrina serves as a student leader and the Assistant Director of Programming for University of Nevada,Reno Bonner Program. Sabrina is extremely passionate about social reform and policy change. Sabrina is constantly on the lookout for opportunities that may aid her journey to create both social and policy reforms. She hopes to advance her Bonner Program into a more inclusive and educated space while promoting the Bonner Network core values.

Aranxa Parra

Bonner Leadership Team: Junior Intern at Centre College

Aranxa is a junior double-majoring in in Anthropology/Sociology and Spanish, with a minor in Social Justice. Aranxa is originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico and moved to Edinburg, Texas when she was eight years old. Aranxa serves as a Junior Intern for the Centre Bonner Program. She is also the Co-Director of Centre College- After School Program, a tutoring program which helps Danville and Boyle ESL students. Aranxa is also a Grissom Scholar and a peer educator of the Body Project, a training offered to raise awareness in regard to eating disorders and body positivity.

Samantha Gisleson

Junior Bonner Leader at Siena College

Samantha is a junior Bonner Service Leader from Thompson, CT and is majoring in Economics at Siena College. She currently serves as a Development Intern at Castle Island Bilingual Montessori in Albany, NY. Samantha led an international service trip through Siena's Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy, and created an issue brief on "The Impacts of Immigration on the American Economy" for the Bonner Foundation's "Know Your Issues" series. Additionally, she is also the Secretary of the Economics Student Association, the Treasurer for the ACS on Campus Club, and a member of the Upstanders Ambassadors Program.

Jess Matilszki

Bonner Leadership Team: Senior Intern at Stetson University

Jess is a senior at Stetson University and is majoring in Economics with a minor in Political Science and a Certificate in Community Engagement. Originally from Cocoa Beach, Florida, Jess now acts as one of the Senior Interns for the Stetson Bonner Program. They helped plan the 2018 Bonner Congress and are currently working on the Virtual Sophomore Exchange for 2021. Outside of Bonner, they are also a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international economics honor society. Before taking on the role of Senior Intern, Jess was the Sustainability Education and Outreach Coordinator for Green Volusia.

Christopher Lipari Pazienza

Bonner Leadership Team: Senior Intern at Stockton University

Christopher is a senior at Stockton University pursuing both his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Criminal Justice. Through his Bonner service, Chris discovered his love for working with at-risk youth and hopes to pursue a career in the juvenile justice system. Chris currently serves as Senior Intern for his Bonner Program, prior to that he served as the Scheduling and Tracking Associate at Stockton University Center for Community Engagement & Service-Learning for three years. As part of his Bonner service and leadership role, Chris works on voter registrations and civic engagement both on and off campus. He is excited to continue his work to increase voter registration in Atlantic City this upcoming year with the support of the Bonner Foundation and the NAACP Chapter of Atlantic City, NJ.