The Bonner Foundation has selected five exceptional interns for the 2024 National Bonner Summer Internship program. These interns, from various universities and diverse academic backgrounds, will contribute to the Bonner network by developing resources, assisting in event planning, and working on strategic initiatives. The Bonner Foundation looks forward to the unique contributions these young leaders will make to the network.
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.
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.
Jahmarley Vivens ’26 and Sonalini Sapra were recognized for their work in strengthening Guilford's community in the classroom and beyond. Jahmarley, a business major from Miami, was commended for his leadership and efforts to bring students together. Sonalini, the Associate Director for Guilford’s Center for Principled Problem Solving and Excellence in Teaching, was acknowledged for her student-focused lessons and commitment to inclusivity. Both individuals were honored at the 12th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, highlighting their significant contributions to Guilford College's community.
Bonner Scholar Ben James ’22 had plans to play soccer for a college in his home state of Pennsylvania when he realized he needed to make a bigger change.
“There was a lot of transformation going on, but by the time I made all of these decisions, it was the spring of my senior year, and the recruiting is all but closed by that time,” he says. “During a tournament in February of 2018, the assistant coach from Guilford contacted me and said they were still looking to fill the recruiting class, so I applied.”
Ben didn’t have a chance to visit Guilford before making the decision, but the opportunity to play soccer, as well as the financial aid that went along with being a Bonner Scholar, made it an easy choice.
Congratulations to the Guilford College’s graduating Bonners - Hsar “Ree Ree” Wei, Moe Reh, and Exel Valle-Estrada! Their time at Guilford has been marked with change and challenge, but their perseverance shines through in their success. Below, get to know the recent graduates and find out how they're planning to go out into the world.
Underprivileged. Low-income. Uneducated. These are words that I heard daily by those who didn't know my plight. I came from a home environment where my parents always encouraged me to reach higher, no matter what my skin looks like, no matter what my religion is, and no matter what my socio-economic status is. Since I was in sixth grade, I knew I wanted to attend a university because education is the key to success. Fortunately, when I learned about Michelle Obama’s Beating the Odds Summit, I was excited, curious, and thankful. I was grateful that someone who looks like me believes that all youth deserve to and should aspire to dream big in life. The summit was an opportunity that should be offered to all teenagers. Mrs. Obama encouraged us to not only grow intellectually, but to grow as human beings by enhancing our networks, reaching out to resources, and discovering our passions. I remember thinking as I left, “It’s not about your major, your extracurriculars, or about where you come from—it's about who you are as a human being and what you are capable of doing.” I left with a mindset of openness and readiness to take on the challenge of college.
James Shields ’00 is the Director of the Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning at Guilford. In more than 20 years, James has established new partnerships and helped secure grants to support the work of Guilford students in the community. He has made a difference in hundreds of lives of students, faculty, staff and other Greensboro community members. James is committed to community building, diversity, civic engagement, social justice, international perspective and spiritual exploration and is the epitome of Guilford’s commitment to providing hands-on learning experiences for students to learn critical problem-solving skills to thrive and make a difference as you serve the world's greater good. He received the Guilford College Alumni Excellence Award in 2016 for his work.
By Karen Alley, Guilford College website
Walking along the tree-lined sidewalks of Guilford College, Exel Estrada looks like any other college student. But the story of how he arrived at this place is a phenomenal tale of hard work and dedication. Just six years ago, Exel was working as a carpenter’s assistant and going to classes at night. “I told my classmates I wanted to be in school forever because I really enjoy learning, and they thought I was crazy,” Exel says. “In Guatemala, if you’re a carpenter you stay a carpenter all your life, or if you’re a farmer you stay a farmer. I wanted more.” He knew school was a way to make something different with his life.
The Guilford College Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning announced that its Mobile Oasis program received $50,000 in funding from the Veggie Van project through the University of Buffalo (UB).
One of nine projects chosen to take part, the University of Buffalo Veggie Van project will help Mobile Oasis expand its current mobile produce market. The Mobile Oasis will operate markets in up to four neighborhoods in Greensboro that will be part of the study.
“We want to know if having these mobile markets in communities that have limited access to fresh produce leads to changes in what people are eating,” said Lucia Leone, Assistant Professor of community health and health behavior in UB’s School of Health and Health Professions and principal investigator on the study.
October 29, 2018 - from Congressional Hunger Center Blog
This summer, four Bonner students traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the pilot cohort of the Zero Hunger Internship Program, a new initiative developed by the Congressional Hunger Center and the Bonner Foundation.
Leveraging the Congressional Hunger Center’s policy education and leadership development expertise and the Bonner Foundation’s extensive network of service-focused leaders, the program gives students in the Bonner network an opportunity to learn about federal anti-hunger policy and gain firsthand experience working with nationally-focused organizations. After the internship, these student leaders bring back their new anti-hunger advocacy skills to their campus communities.
This spring, Guilford is graduating another distinguished class of difference-makers. They know what it means to live out the College's seven Core Values of community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice and stewardship in their everyday lives. The future is in good hands with student like Marimar Mantuano '18, whom you meet in this video profile on Guilford College's website.
Abigail Bekele, Bonner Scholar Class of 2019, won the Mark of Excellence Award for 2018 in General News Photography for small colleges (< 10,000 enrollment) from the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 (N.C., Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C.). Her winning photograph entry was titled “Can I have a hug?” and appeared in The Guilfordian accompanying an article on a visit to Guilford College’s campus by Jill and Joe Biden.
Kristi is committed to making communities more inclusive. It’s what she did at Guilford, and it’s what she’s doing in Washington.
Kristi Matthews ’06 knew she wanted to attend Guilford College years before she graduated from Greensboro’s Dudley High School.
When her sister Sunny Matthews ’04, older by two years, toured colleges, Kristi joined her. And when they visited Guilford, Kristi knew it was the place for her.
They visited the community center in the basement of Founders Hall and talked to staff member Judy Harvey. “I really just loved the sense of community,” Kristi says. “It felt like family.”
Experiential learning through community engagement is a long term investment. Sometimes the payoff takes decades because Guilford College's stewardship is built on the idea that some good things can't be measured by quarterly returns or academic semesters. Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning and its student coordinators and teams of student volunteers have run some community sites for years, long enough for refugee and immigrant children who were tutored by Guilfordians to have grown up ready for college themselves.
Mamta Gurung ’18, who is majoring in accounting, has been named the first Bonner Center Public Health Fellow in recognition of her work, including tutoring, mentoring and educating, members of international and immigrant communities.
The purpose of this new fellowship is to draw attention to significant health issues that can no longer be classed as local or international but must be regarded in an ever-shrinking world as both. Therefore, the Public Health Fellow is charged with exploring mentored, real-world experiences located here in the region and internationally.
The 2016 North Carolina Heritage Awards recognized traditional backstrap weavers H Ju Nie and H Ngach Rahlan, who are Bonner Center community partners.
Since both Greensboro weavers are elderly, Bonner Center Volunteer Training Coordinator Andrew Young and his wife, Betsy Renfrew, herself a weaving expert, accompanied the artists to the North Carolina Executive Mansion for dinner May 24 with Gov. Pat McCrory, N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz, and N.C. Arts Council Executive Director Wayne Martin.
Not long after Helen Mandalinic ’14 arrived at Guilford in 2010, she began volunteering with the Community Kitchens Project, a program that packages cafeteria leftovers into meals and delivers those meals to the area’s needy.
She quickly realized her passion for service didn’t need to be put on hold for her studies, and her education at Guilford would extend beyond the classroom and the campus.
Less than six years ago, José Oliva ’17 lived with his grandparents in Tiucal, a rural village in Guatemala.
His mother had moved to the U.S. to work in the textile industry when he was a baby. Few people in his hometown attended high school, and fewer still had the opportunity to go to college. He didn’t speak English.
Today, José thrives at Guilford. He served the College as the first Latino president of Community Senate during his sophomore year, and he has served the wider community by educating hundreds of high school students — immigrants and the children of immigrants — about the college application process.
Jodie Geddes, a native of Jamaica, spoke on behalf of the Class of 2014 at Commencement on May 17.
Jodie came to Guilford from in Brooklyn, N.Y, and she graduates with a degree in community and justice studies and a minor in education. She feels called to create change in her community; as a Bonner Scholar she found herself while working with refugees and immigrants in the Triad. She will be entering graduate school at Eastern Mennonite University in order to pursue a degree in conflict transformation.
Experiential learning through community engagement is a long term investment. Sometimes the payoff takes decades because Guilford College's stewardship is built on the idea that some good things can't be measured by quarterly returns or academic semesters. Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning and its student coordinators and teams of student volunteers have run some community sites for years, long enough for refugee and immigrant children who were tutored by Guilfordians to have grown up ready for college themselves.
