HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 16, 2021 – High Point University is welcoming nine of its recent graduates, two of which are Bonner alumni, as AmeriCorps VISTAs, who will dedicate a year of service to the city of High Point. For the ninth year, High Point University is hosting these AmeriCorps VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) to provide thousands of hours of service to local organizations.

Jasmin Tinnis wasted no time – literally – during her four years at Averett University. She graduated Saturday, May 8, after triple-majoring in aviation, business and criminal justice/sociology. She also completed three internships, hundreds of volunteer hours and several service-learning projects.

“I completed all three of these internships while maintaining a full course load,” Tinnis said.

Tinnis completed her internships – one with the Danville Police Department (DPD) and two with the Danville Life Saving Crew (DLSC) – all while taking the maximum number of credit hours possible each semester for her majors. She was also a member of the Averett Bonner Leader Program.

After winning the Davis Project for Peace prize of $10,000, rising junior Gideon Ampofo is gearing up to start the Springboard Scholars program in Accra, Ghana, this August.

In 2007, internationalist and philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis created Projects for Peacewhen she committed $1 million for one hundred Projects for Peace. Since then, the award has invited undergraduates at participating partner institutions to apply, and encourages student initiative, innovation, and entrepreneurship focusing on conflict prevention, resolution, or reconciliation.

Iesha-LaShay Phillips '22, a Bonner Scholar and an ambassador of the Muskogee Creek Nation from Oklahoma, has been selected as one of 14 students from across the country to be a 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellow. The fellowship includes a full scholarship to participate in a CIEE Study Abroad program focused on leadership, intercultural communication, and social justice.

Each summer, the Bonner Foundation welcomes four to eight motivated, passionate, and talented Bonner summer interns from our network of 65+ Bonner programs. During this eleven-week internship, these young leaders bring their Bonner Program experience and share it by developing new resources and strategies for the national network. This year, the Bonner Foundation offers distinct internship opportunities that focus on policy work (Know Your Issue), Bonner Alumni Network development, special projects and publishing on community-engaged learning and racial justice, Bonner Program impact research, and student impact survey research.

We are delighted to welcome these seven exceptional 2021 Bonner summer interns:

• Christopher Battaglia '22, Waynesburg University (Waynesburg, PA) working as the Know Your Issue Intern

• Emily Brookfield '23, Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA), working as the Alumni Network Intern

• Maria Guevara Carpio '21, Rutgers University - New Brunswick (New Brunswick, NJ), working as a Special Projects & Publishing: Community-Engaged Learning Intern

• Emily Curran '22, Rollins College (Winter Park, FL), working as the Student Impact Intern

• Jess Matilszki '21, Stetson University (DeLand, FL), working as the Program Impact Intern

• Sierra Medina '22, Waynesburg University (Waynesburg, PA), working as a Special Projects & Publishing: Racial Justice Intern

• Joshua Perez '23, Rollins College (Winter Park, FL), working as a Special Projects & Publishing: Racial Justice Intern

You can read each intern’s bio on our Bonner Foundation staff page.

Eh Nay Thaw ‘18 is originally from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and spent 10 years in a refuge camp in Thailand before coming to the U.S where he resettled in Louisville, KY. Eh Nay Thaw graduated as a Bonner Scholar alum '18 from Centre College in Danville, KY. Most recently, as a response to the ongoing crisis and military coup in his home country, Eh Nay Thaw has led protests across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Louisville and St. Paul, Minnesota, since February 6, 2021.

Rashel Bernal Reyes’ life straddles two New Brunswicks: The City of New Brunswick where she was raised and Rutgers-New Brunswick where she is a student.

“One of my friends dropped me off from class last year. The moment you turn from Rockoff Hall, past the cemetery, there are homeless people,” the sophomore said of an area near her Joyce Kilmer Avenue neighborhood that surprised her peer. “I told them, ‘You’ve finally entered our city. This is where we live. You don’t know because you stay in your area.’ ”

As a first-generation college student and daughter of Mexican immigrants, Reyes said she never considered higher education until community groups and mentors opened her eyes to the possibility in middle school. So when she arrived at Rutgers, Reyes looked for a way to give back to her community and better connect it with her campus.

She found her opportunity at Rutgers’ Collaborative Center for Community-Based Research and Service, which houses the Rutgers Bonner Leaders program. Part of the national Bonner Foundation, this network of college students at 70 colleges and universities is committed to community service and social justice. Through Bonner, Reyes discovered her niche in a familiar place, the New Brunswick Public Library, where until the pandemic hit, she taught conversational English to members of her community.

In the last few years, the Bonner Foundation created the Pipeline Project as a way to support the professional development and advancement of our network of talented civic engagement leaders and professionals. The project has aimed to create greater recognition and intentionality for the work of community engagement and community-engaged learning as a profession and field. We have developed competencies, educational opportunities, and networking based both on literature and practice. Innovative resources, including podcasts, have also been developed.

This year, we have pivoted our work to web-based meetings, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, we have launched: A National Community of Practice: The Bonner Pipeline Project Professional Development Seminar Series. Through four cohorts (at different levels), national practitioners and leaders in the community engagement and higher education field are engaging in a national seminar series with peers at other institutions. Participants engage intentionally with literature, theory, and case studies on topics like student development, diversity and inclusion, and institutional change. They discuss its application and practice within their programs, centers, and colleges and universities around the country.

Read more about the Bonner Pipeline Project Professional Development Seminar Series here.

Read about the Emerging Leaders cohort here.

Read about the Young Professionals cohort here.

Read about the Mid-Career Professionals cohort here.

Read about the Senior Leaders cohort here.