Maranda C. Ward, Ed.D., MPH, Spelman College Bonner Scholar ‘02 Alum has been awarded Campus Compact’s Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. Dr. Ward is the assistant professor and director of the Equity Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
TCNJ’s Bonner Community Scholars Program launched 20 years ago, it started with just 12 Bonner Scholars — students who commit to 300 hours of community service annually in exchange for needs-based scholarships. Now, with close to 100 participants each year, the TCNJ program is one of the largest and most successful in a nationwide network of Bonner college programs.
In celebration of Elaine Wheeler's retirement, we honor her invaluable contribution to the Bonner Foundation. Her commitment and mentorship have been instrumental in our growth as a Foundation and the Network we have today. As she embarks on her retirement, we celebrate her legacy of dedication and look forward to the path she has paved for us.
With over three decades sharing campus examples, guides, and documents to download, the Bonner Foundation is excited to announce a recently updated Bonner Resources Wiki.
This summer, the five National Bonner Summer Interns at the Foundation — Anu Baskar (George Mason ‘24), Camila Guayasamin (The College of New Jersey ‘24), Dominique Dore (University of Houston ‘22), Mikaela Chin (High Point University ‘24) and Selah Ndouta (Capital University ‘22) — worked with the Foundation staff to refresh the look of the wiki’s homepage and, more importantly, update campus examples and other documents.
They devoted particularly attention to the Bonner Program Management and Community-Engaged Learning sections. In addition, Mikaela and Dominique also created a short video on how to navigate this wealth of knowledge.
Maranda C. Ward, Ed.D., MPH, Spelman College Bonner Scholar ‘02 Alum has been awarded Campus Compact’s Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. Dr. Ward is the assistant professor and director of the Equity Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The Congressional Hunger Center recently announced that they welcomed new members to their Alumni Council, one of them being an Allegheny Bonner Alum, London Dejarnette. London Dejarnette is a recent graduate from Allegheny College where they studied Environmental Science and Sustainability & Community and Justice Studies. London served in the Hunger Center's 5th class of Zero Hunger Interns in 2022 and considers their career path to be a direct result of their experience in the program.
While the executive director role may be a new one for him at the Madison County Arts Council, Brandon Johnson is certainly not a "new face in a new place at the nonprofit organization." He moved to the area in 2006 when he went to Mars Hill University as a Bonner Scholar, a program in which students participate in service, leadership development and meetings/trainings for approximately 10 hours a week. Johnson's community service in the Bonners Scholar program led him to the Bluff Mountain Festival, where he started as an intern in 2007, and in later years emceed the event and also performed.
X Braithwaite, grew up in Newark, New Jersey, a city characterized by crime, poverty, and environmental inequities, sparked my passion for justice. Their involvement in high school activism, education reform, and the Bonner Scholar Program has shaped me into an advocate for change. They recognized the interconnectedness of social and environmental justice, they now strive for equitable access to clean air, water, and green spaces as an Environmental Justice organizer at Clean Water Action.
workers have a preference for informal work styles, tightly defined schedules, and are unlikely to settle for subpar pay. As a young professional in civic engagement, Sophia Lombardo shared her thoughts, as a Gen Zer herself, that Gen Z prioritizes their own health and happiness and are hesitant to commit to all-consuming, low-paying positions in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits need to tap into the good feeling toward the sector and offer competitive benefits to attract young workers. However, integrating Gen Z into the charitable world can be challenging due to their demands for change and potential tensions with older nonprofit leaders. The revamped Public Service Loan Forgiveness program could be one way to attract young workers to the nonprofit sector.
In 2023, Genny Castillo was listed in Georgia Trend’s 40 under 40 — recognized as a leader with experience in policy, community outreach and administration. Currently, she’s the regional director of the Southern Economic Advancement Project, facilitating its local programming to improve economic security and access to health care. Previously the senior advisor to Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaign, Castillo led one of the most engaged Latinx constituency programs nationwide, earning recognition as one of the top five Latinas reshaping U.S. politics in 2020.
Here she shares Berry’s significant influence on her life choices while touting the value of Berry’s vast network: "I tell people Berry has a small student body, but that student body becomes an alum network with generous reach.”
Castillo adds, “From day one, Berry gave me the space to be an advocate. I was in the minority and felt different, but there was always space to be myself. People call Berry a bubble, but that does not mean there isn't room for different voices.”
Spelman college Bonner Alum, Destinee Filmore is a curator, art historian, and writer dedicated to telling a more complex history of American art that centers women and historically marginalized makers. She has published and presented research on an assortment of artists and topics, including the work of Alvin D. Loving, Nellie Mae Rowe, and Mildred Thompson; and she continues to explore research topics ranging from vernacular African American artistic traditions, the reception history of identity-based exhibitions, and the visual and material culture of Afro-Cosmopolitanism in the early 20th century. As a Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Williams College Museum of Art, she led efforts to define and expand the museum’s ethical collecting practices, and curated exhibitions and permanent collection rotations.
Discover the enriching journey of Xzavier Killings '16, a Davidson College Bonner alum, who has seamlessly blended his passion for community service with a professional endeavor in healthcare. This feature not only delves into Killings' collegiate experience but also unveils how the Bonner program played a pivotal role in shaping his career path. Through a curated collection of photos and narratives, explore how Killings' time at Davidson transcended the classroom, fostering a lifelong commitment to community engagement and healthcare excellence.
Lirio Morales Ibarra ‘23, a Bonner who majored in sociology and anthropology at Berry College, was accepted into Harvard's Educational Leadership, Organizations and Entrepreneurship Program. Her experiences at Berry, particularly in serving the community, played a significant role in her success. Lirio's goal is to be in a leadership role at a youth-serving nonprofit and to create a scalable, transformational, and financially sustainable social enterprise to empower students from marginalized communities to attain educational success.
UR Bonner graduate Camryn Carter will delivered a speech at the Beckman Symposium in California before starting her doctorate in chemistry at MIT. Carter started as a computer science major but found her passion in chemistry through the University of Richmond Integrated Science Experience program. She conducted full-time summer research all four years at UR and was part of a research team that studied the COVID omicron variant. Carter was named a Beckman Scholar and received a Rising Black Scientist award. She graduated with a double major in chemistry and computer science.
Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, John continues to cultivate what he has learned from the legacies and infrastructures left by justice and equity pioneers of the past and present into accessible, approachable, and active actions for positive and transformative restitution as change.
As a Bonner and McNair Scholar, John has worked within his community and the broader communities he serves by expanding community capacity concerning political action and civic engagement while focusing on identity, place, and policy.
Victor-Alan Weeks, an Atlanta native, visited Sapelo Island for the first time as a student just a few months before Tropical Storm Irma. As part of an Africana Studies course at Davidson College in North Carolina, Weeks had taken a tour of Hog Hammock, learning more about the history of the Gullah Geechee people. “I never heard about Sapelo Island before,” Weeks said, who was majoring in both digital media and ethnography. “My first impression was: This is a place of serenity, restoration, and with its past, there are a lot of stories to be revealed from the land and the people.”
Bertha Nibigira ’18, who majored in sociology and anthropology, graduated with a Master of Arts from American University’s School of International Service, with an emphasis on international development, peacebuilding and youth empowerment. Her perspective on international issues began early in life, as her family fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Tanzania and eventually resettled in the United States.
He grew up in a service-oriented family, undertook activities required to become an Eagle Scout, won Bonner and Holton scholarships at DePauw for service and coveted a life of helping others.
But Nathan Hand ’03 wasn’t convinced he could make a career in philanthropy, at least not one that would enable him to comfortably raise a family and have the earning potential that his peers pursuing more lucrative fields would enjoy.
He thought about becoming a patent attorney. Or going into biology. He spent time pursing education studies, then geology. He ultimately landed on a communication major and political science minor, and undertook enough internships, volunteer opportunities and extracurricular experiences to persuade himself that working in nonprofits would bring him joy and a comfortable life, if not necessarily riches.
“I just felt like there was an urgency there to get my career started, but also explore as many different causes as possible to find what I liked,” he said. “I needed to prove to myself that I could make a living doing this, the idea of volunteering and nonprofit service. It’s a big shift to go from a fun side hobby … to want to make a career out of this.”
Today, Pelaez, a Davidson Bonner Scholar, works at the Charlotte Community Health Clinic, bringing healthcare, testing and more to low income and underinsured populations in Charlotte, as she prepares to apply to physician assistant programs.
It sounds like the makings for a Hollywood action movie:
Good Guy wonders where all the missing bits of nuclear material have gone. He joins a think tank in Europe to learn how to stop the bad guys from getting their hands on it. He brings back everything he’s learned to the U.S. and saves the day!
But this isn’t a Hollywood movie. It’s reality for Stetson University Bonner alumnus Jack Kelly ’11.
Mars Hill University alum, Marshay Huskins '01, was honored as Madison County principal of the year. Ms. Huskins plays a crucial role in the success of our district. She is always a strong voice on our district leadership team. One of the most powerful components that Ms. Huskins exhibits is her knowledge and research around teaching to trauma and poverty.
Charlotte Collins Davis, Bonner 2014 alumna from Berry College has been selected for Georgia Trend's annual "40 Under 40" list of the state's top young leaders. The Deputy Director of Governmental Relations at the Georgia Municipal Association spends her days lobbying in the State Capitol, volunteering as a track coach and mentoring student-athletes at Berry.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County has selected its next leader. Alicia Painter will become chief executive officer in January following Bruce Daggy's December retirement, according to a news release. She will be only the fourth leader — and the first female leader — in the Boys & Girls Clubs' 64-year history. Painter graduated from Earlham College '11 and was a Bonner Scholar at the school. She has served multiple roles, including camp director, program director, unit director, senior unit director and, most recently, director of operations, during her 10 years with the Boys & Girls Clubs.
