Board of Trustees

Charles C. Goodfellow, Chair, former Bank of New York Investment Officer (Cranford, NJ)

William Bush, BDT & Company (Chicago, IL)

Bernie Flynn, former President & CEO of New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group (West Trenton, NJ) and Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Street Friends (Trenton, NJ)

Shannon Maynard, Executive Director, Congressional Hunger Center (Washington, DC) and Bonner Alum (University of Richmond)

Dr. Beth Paul, President, Nazareth College (Rochester, NY), and former Provost at Stetson University (FL) and Faculty Member at The College of New Jersey (NJ)

Tony Richardson, President of the George Gund Foundation (Cleveland, OH) and Bonner Alum (Oberlin College)

Staff

Robert Hackett joined the Bonner Foundation in 1992 as Vice President and Director of the Bonner Scholars Program and assumed the role of President in July, 2010. 

Prior to joining the Bonner Foundation, Bobby worked at the Telesis Corporation, an affordable housing developer in Washington, D.C. With his friend Wayne Meisel, Bobby helped start Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) in 1984, serving as its managing director of the during its first three years of operation. COOL organized initiatives that promoted the development of the national service movement and the role of students as leaders within it. In addition, Bobby worked in various capacities with the Youth Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan organization that researches and reports on public policies and evidence-based program models on social issues, especially those relating to young people.

Bobby received his bachelors degree from Harvard University in 1985 and a masters in public and private management from Yale University's School of Organization and Management in 1990. Bobby oversaw the Foundation’s work, funded by Learn & Serve America, to seed community-based research at more than 30 colleges and universities and efforts, funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, to replicate the Bonner Scholar Program model using AmeriCorps Education Awards. Bobby has continued to expand and deepen the integration of community-driven projects and capacity building (including public policy research) through the development of Bonner’s Know Your Issue curriculum, which teaches students to investigate the root causes and potential solutions to pressing problems. Bobby has worked over the past decade to integrate social action into Bonner’s work, engaging Dr. Scott Myers Lipton of San Jose State University in sharing his successful course model with faculty from around the country. This work incorporates the text Change: A Student Guide to Social Action.

Dr. Ariane Hoy joined the Foundation in 2004. As Vice President, Ariane leads strategic initiatives to promote program quality and deeper, more pervasive campus-wide engagement. Ariane serves on the national advisory boards for the American Association of College and Universities’ VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) Initiative and National Advisory Committee of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. She served on the boards for AAC&U’s publications and the Center for Engaged Democracy, which promotes the development of civically engaged majors, minors, concentrations, and certificates. She is a member of the advisory board for Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) working to promote pathways for all students. Ari is co-editor of Deepening Community Engagement in Higher Education: Forging New Pathways (Palgrave 2013) and co-author of Civic Engagement at the Center: Building Democracy through Integrated Co-curricular and Curricular Experiences (AACU 2008), as well as resource material (such as training for faculty and student leaders) on the Bonner Wiki.

Fueled by experiences as a student and volunteer, Ariane found a passion for civic engagement. While attending Stanford University, she engaged in East Palo Alto with elementary students, teachers, nonprofits, and the school district, developing coalitions to mobilize students and faculty into working with the community. She researched economic and policy issues, creating a credit-bearing CBR course taught by community leaders with student in local internships. She was awarded the John Gardner Fellowship to work full-time with the Ravenswood City School District, mentored by its Superintendent. Ari spent five years at City Year (which engages 17 to 25 year-olds in full-time service), building systems and training to replicate the national organization. As Jumpstart’s Vice President for Program, Ari oversaw the development of a proven evidence-based national program that engages college students as teachers in Head Start programs. At Echoing Green (New York), Ari helped create resources for social entrepreneurs. As Executive Director of Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL), she developed large-scale conferences and programs for student leadership of civic engagement. Ari earned a bachelor's in Political Science. She earned a master’s in higher education from Drexel University and a doctorate in higher education leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, while working full-time. Her research focuses on institutionalization of community engagement and its potential to support student success, post-graduate careers, and the effectiveness of higher education.

Dr. Rachayita Shah brings a rich background and teaching experience in curriculum and instructional design. Her work at Bonner includes consultations with and curricular guidance to administrators, faculty, and student leaders involved in institutionalizing community and civic engagement. She earned a doctorate from Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Ph.D. program in Curriculum and Instruction and Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in English Literature from India.

Before joining the Bonner Foundation, she worked at FAU as Visiting Instructor and taught courses focused on diversity, multicultural education, human rights, and social justice. She also worked as Program Manager at FAU’s Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education, where she facilitated teacher professional development, provided curriculum consultations to K-12 educators, and managed Holocaust education and human rights-oriented events. As a member of the Florida Department of Education Commissioner’s Task Force on Holocaust Education, she served on curriculum writing team for integrating the content of the Holocaust in middle school civics lessons.

Rachayita’s areas of expertise and research include teacher professional development, community-engaged learning, and multicultural education. At Bonner, she has developed new resources for faculty, staff, and student leaders, including curriculum for faculty development in community-engaged learning  and in course design. She also helped lead the Racial Justice Initiative and Writer’s Webinar, guiding more than 20 faculty and staff in their development of public scholarship. She has also developed self-paced resources on course design, community-engaged learning, and other topics within the Bonner Learning Community, an online platform for the network.

Liz Brandt joined the Bonner Foundation staff in August 2018 as the Community Engagement Director. In this role she designs and manages Foundation initiatives for supporting Bonner Program member campuses and campus-wide community engagement. She supports planning of national conferences, resource and curriculum development, conducts campus visits, cultivates and manages strategic partnerships with graduate schools, and identifies and shares best practices and models. As a community engagement professional in higher education, Liz strives to build just and equitable communities by transforming higher education institutions to be agents of collaborative social change and educating and preparing students for civically engaged lives. 

Growing up in rural Kentucky and in a low-income family, Liz understands first-hand the challenges of economic and social inequality. She was the recipient of the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Scholarship, which created the opportunity for her access and experience the transformative nature of higher education. As a Bonner Scholar, Liz served as the Senior Intern and a Bonner Congress Representative. Also at Centre, Liz had transformative experiences studying abroad in Ghana, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Guatemala. After graduating, Liz worked as a Campus Organizer for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, a non-profit that trains college students in grassroots organizing tactics to tackle issues such as hunger and homelessness, renewable energy, and student debt. 

After serving in that role, Liz returned to Centre College to serve for two years as the Coordinator of the Bonner Program and Community Service. In this role, Liz managed Centre's sixty student Bonner Program, including designing training and education, restructuring the Program to incorporate an Issue-Based model, and cultivating and maintaining community partnerships. She also focused on curriculum change, helping to develop a Social Justice Minor at Centre and serving on the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty Internship (SHECP) committee, to develop social justice academic coursework and internships. 

Liz also holds a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Centre College in Danville, KY. Liz recently completed a Masters of Science in Higher Education with concentrations in Administration & Leadership and Educational Policy from Drexel University. Her master’s thesis focused on understanding the pathways and barriers faced by Community Engagement Professionals (CEPs), drawing on and delving more deeply into the field’s scholarship to conduct a quantitative study. Liz is leading the cohort of teams producing Making the Case reports that comprehensively describe the value of community engagement to their institutions. Liz enjoys cooking, hiking, reading, and traveling and exploring new cultures and communities. Liz has traveled to five continents, over fifteen countries, and twenty-nine states in the U.S. Liz brings her background, experiences, and passion for civic and community engagement, service learning, and social justice in higher education to her role as the Community Engagement Director at the Bonner Foundation. 

Clifton Davis joined the Bonner Foundation in November 2022 as the Operations and Special Projects Coordinator. Cliff is a 2019 Bonner Scholar and Oprah Winfrey Scholar alum from Morehouse College where he organized many community initiatives on the issues of education access and homelessness.

In this new position, Cliff will manage Bonner Foundation grant making and reporting, annual meeting logistics, internal and external communications and operations. He will also provide support to new Bonner Leader Programs and special projects.

Prior to joining the Bonner Foundation Staff, Cliff served as an Educator with the Stewart County School District in Lumpkin,GA. Worked as an Implementation Specialist for E&T Associates servicing K-12 schools in Atlanta, GA. He worked as Program Coordinator for the First-Year Experience and Summer Academy at Morehouse College.

Cliff received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.  He also received his Master's in Public Service from the Clinton School at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.

Jeniffer Gonzalez Reyes joined the Bonner Foundation in February 2023 and serves as the Program Manager. In this role, Jeniffer helps ensure that community engaged professionals are effective in building and sustaining high quality campus programs. She develops new or refine existing training and curriculum to provide technical assistance to college/universities with in the Bonner Network. She supports planning for national conferences, conducts campus visits, and manages international and national organizations that enrich and support the Bonner Program and Network.

Jeniffer is a Bonner Scholar 2019 alum from Guilford College. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics. As a Bonner Scholar, Jeniffer served as a Bonner Congress Representative and Site Coordinator. Jeniffer organized many community initiatives on issues of access to high education and immigrant rights. One of these initiative was Soy un Leader, an annual conference that provided crucial information for access to higher education for 500+ disenfranchised and undocumented/DACAmented high school students in surrounding counties of Greensboro, NC.

After graduating Jeniffer worked as the Bonner Program Coordinator for Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Jeniffer managed Allegheny’s Hybrid Leader/Scholar Bonner Program of 60 students, including new student onboarding, curriculum/training design, and implementation. She established a more efficient student-led Bonner Leadership Team structure and cultivated and maintained community partnerships.

Prior to joining the Bonner Foundation Staff, Jeniffer was a program manager for UNC Chapel Hill School of Government in Chapel Hill, NC. She worked as an administrative liaison to faculty, NC judicial officials, and attorneys.

NATIONAL SUMMER INTERNS

Naya Adla is a junior Bonner Scholar at Stetson University, majoring in Digital Arts, and Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Data Science. Originally from Syria and raised in Egypt, Naya holds dear her Arab heritage and strives to serve the Arab community in Florida. In addition to heading the Middle Eastern & North African Association at Stetson she holds several other leadership roles pivotal in community building. Within the Bonner Program at Stetson, Naya has served a Student Coordinator and a Freshman Class-Based Leader. She represented Stetson at the Bonner Congress in 2023 and attended the Bonner SLI during the summer of 2024. She has also worked closely with the International Student Office, where she is deeply involved in supporting international and exchange students. Naya is passionate about bridging the world of data analytics with social justice to produce innovative solutions, particularly in the fields of higher education and environmental sustainability.

Outside of academics and community work, Naya enjoys cooking dishes from different cuisines around the world. Her favorite cuisines are Syrian and Mexican. She also loves traveling and explore different landscapes around the US. She has been to North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Ohio, among others. Naya’s favorite tradition is collecting magnets from her travels.

Naya is excited to work with the Bonner Foundation and she believes this internship will provide her with the skills necessary to prepare for a career in higher education and civic leadership.

Michael Deem Jr. is a third-year student studying Film and Television and Entrepreneurship at Rider University. In his Bonner Program at Rider, he serves as the Site-Based Team Leader for Arm in Arm and is also a member of both the Bonner Leadership Team and the Social Media Team. Through these roles, he aims to engage Bonner Leaders and the greater campus community by providing meaningful and fulfilling experiences. Michael is ecstatic to collaborate on innovative projects and contribute to the ongoing growth of the Bonner Program.

Prior to joining The Bonner Foundation, Michael served in Rider University's Student Government Association as both Vice President for Communications and Executive Vice President. In these roles, he led initiatives such as coordinating the semesterly Town Hall and planning and facilitating weekly Senate meetings. He also extends his service beyond Bonner through Circle K International, serving on the executive board at both the club and district levels. Michael is also an intern at the James R. Halsey Foundation of the Arts in Hamilton, NJ — a nonprofit organization that supports youth in the Greater Trenton-Hamilton area by providing filmmaking classes. This program empowers students to express themselves through the film medium, offering a safe space for their voices to be heard, while also helping them develop transferable skills for college and future careers. After this summer, Michael will pursue internships in the film industry. In the spring semester of his senior year, he will participate in Rider University's Semester in LA program, gaining hands-on experience on the same sets and studio lots where many beloved films and television shows are created. He looks forward to soaking in every bit of knowledge and building valuable connections during his time in Los Angeles. After graduation, Michael aims to build a career in film as a producer or production coordinator. He also aspires to create his own independent films that reflect his core values, especially around mental health advocacy, environmental sustainability, and disability representation in media.

Olivia Gray is a sophomore at Spelman College, majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Political Science. A proud Bonner Scholar, Olivia has dedicated herself to community service, focusing on improving the wellness of students in Atlanta Public Schools and nonprofit organizations. She has taken on leadership roles within the Bonner Scholar Program, serving as the 2023-2024 First Year Class Coordinator and the 2024-2025 Second Year Class Coordinator, helping her peers engage in meaningful service projects.

Beyond her community involvement, Olivia is passionate about education and policy. She aims to combine her love for teaching with her interest in political advocacy, specifically in the areas of early childhood education and nonprofit work. Olivia has a deep commitment to creating opportunities for students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Olivia brings a creative flair to her campus life by serving as the local nail technician for her fellow students and being a previous pageant contestant of NAM! She is driven by a belief in the power of self-love, self-care, and community empowerment.

A proud Chicagoan, J.P. Liddy (he/him) is a rising senior at Oberlin College. After years of experience working with nonprofits, his passion for community service flourished through the Bonner Scholar Program at Oberlin, where he was given the resources and agency to explore work with a myriad of Cleveland-area service sites. Through hosting dialogues, crafting workshops, and structuring community-building methods with members of the surrounding Oberlin community as a member of Oberlin's Bonner Leadership Team, he has gained hands-on experience as a leader and changemaker. He has organized events and coordinated programming for large conventions and conferences such as Oberlin's IMPACT Summit and the 2024 Bonner Summer Leadership Institute and built lasting relationships throughout the Bonner Network that have strengthened his experience in higher education by introducing him to a world of active social educators and civically engaged changemakers. Through this opportunity to intern for the Bonner Foundation, Liddy hopes to expand his understanding of the Bonner Foundation's long-term agenda to instill the core commitments within the current classes of Bonners while strengthening ties with the nationwide Bonner Network as he prepares to lead the onboarding process for Oberlin's incoming class of Bonner Scholars. A diligent opportunist with the giddy spirit of Buddy the Elf, he is currently finishing a semester abroad in Bath, England, where he is working to complete his second novel.

Kayla Rogers is a current senior at Centre College, graduating in May with a BA in Politics and a BA in History with a minor in Social Justice. Originally from Frankfort, Kentucky, Kayla is deeply committed to grassroots organizing and political activism in her home state, with a particular focus on education access, civic engagement, and community empowerment. In alignment with these goals, she led a campus-wide letter-writing campaign during her junior year to mobilize student voices against anti-DEI legislation in Kentucky. As a Bonner, Kayla has served in multiple leadership roles, including as the PR & Activities Specialist on the Bonner Leadership Team. In this role, she worked to amplify the program’s visibility and foster stronger connections within Bonner. She continued her commitment to the Centre College Bonner program as the Bonner Ambassador where she has initiated professional development and alumni relations. In this new position, she has curated an internship and fellowship database to meet the needs of her diversely disciplined program as well as an annual newsletter to include alumni in the program’s operations. Beyond Bonner, Kayla is an elected representative of the Student Government Association, a department representative for the Politics major, and created a political section of the campus newspaper, The Cento. She has also studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, where she deepened her understanding of international politics and human rights. Kayla is passionate about advancing social justice through policy advocacy and plans to continue building her skills in community organizing within the nonprofit sector.

Former Staff

Wayne Meisel was hired in 1989 by Mr. Bonner as the founding president of the Bonner Foundation, which he led for the first next 21 years.  In his first two years he launched the two programs that continue to define the Bonner Foundation.  The Crisis Ministry Program which funds anti-hunger efforts and the Bonner Program which is the largest privately-funded, service-based scholarship program in the country with 3,000 students serving annually at 65+ colleges and universities.

Meisel has been a longtime advocate of service, service learning, and community engagement. Click here for a profile that traces his career from college up to the present.