As the Bonner Foundation moves toward the 35th Anniversary of the Bonner Program, marked in 2025 at the Summer Leadership Institute at the University of Richmond in June, the Bonner Foundation team is updating communications, including new videos that showcase the impact of the Bonner Program on students, institutions, and communities.
This communications project began last summer, as 2024 National Bonner Interns, Ryan Vaughan (Emory & Henry University) and Ariel Castillo (Stetson University), utilized their video production and graphic design skills to produce a new, revitalized Bonner history video. This video aimed to answer the question, “What is the Bonner Program?” and it highlights a diversity of voices and perspectives from across the Bonner Network.
Vaughan and Castillo, captured footage and conducted 21 interviews with students, staff, and faculty across the Bonner Network during the 2024 Bonner Summer Leadership Institute at Oberlin College. Interviewees represented a range of institutions and programs, including Bonner Scholar and Leader Programs, as well as individuals from diverse backgrounds and roles within the Bonner Network.
"Through my communications experience, I have been fortunate to take part in many video shoots, but none compare to this one. This video means a lot to me and to the many people who helped bring it together,” shared Ryan Vaughan.
“The Bonner Program truly develops students and believes in their ability to do good, important work,” shared Jen Gonzalez Reyes, Program Manager at the Bonner Foundation. “Ryan and Ariel are talented young communications professionals. It was a fantastic learning experience for them to work alongside the Bonner Foundation staff to develop this new video, which will be an important resource to the Bonner Network for many years to come,” added Gonzalez Reyes.
The revitalized Bonner history video premiered this fall at the 2024 Bonner Congress at Loyola University’s Retreat Center in Woodstock, IL and 2024 Bonner Network Meeting at the Claggett Center in Fredrick, Maryland.
The short six minute video is one of three planned to be produced and released in conjunction with the 35th anniversary of the Bonner Program. Ryan Vaughan, senior Bonner Scholar at Emory & Henry University in Emory, VA is participating in a winter internship with the Bonner Foundation to develop the next two videos. One highlighting the Bonner student developmental journey and the other sharing the impact of the Bonner Program on community partners.
"Media has been one of my lifelong passions, and to be able to use my skills in content creation for a foundation that means so much to me has been nothing short of an incredible experience," added Vaughan.