Meet our 2025 National Bonner Summer Interns! Michael Deem Jr. from Rider University brings his expertise in film and storytelling, while Spelman College's Olivia Gray focuses on advancing educational equity. Oberlin's Joseph (JP) Liddy contributes his experience in event coordination and community building, and Centre College's Kayla Rogers brings her passion for policy advocacy and civic engagement. Together, these talented student leaders will support the Bonner Foundation's mission while gaining valuable professional experience in the nonprofit sector.
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.
Kaytlin Brown, CAUL Intern, shares her thoughts about the Urban League:
I am a junior at the College of Charleston pursuing a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health and double minoring in Communication and Political Science, on the Pre-Law track. My interests lie within the intersections of interface communication and advocacy.
My goal is to utilize my experience in such a field to evoke change for minorities in the realms of public policy, public health, and business operations.
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.
In August 2021, Bonner Foundation Community Engagement Director, Liz Brandt, completed a master's thesis research project through the School of Education at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. The project examined the critical practices that support Community Engagement Professionals (CEPs) in actualizing the fulfillment of higher education’s civic mission.
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi has its first-ever cohort of Bonner Program students who have started their four-year campaigns to transform their campus and community through service projects.
The university’s Bonner Program, housed at the new UM Center for Community Engagement, is part of a diverse, multistate network of colleges and universities with their own Bonner programs. The program is part of the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, which works to “transform students, communities and campuses through service.”
In 2021, Paul Schadewald, Senior Program Director for Community-Based Learning and Scholarship at Macalester College and a Field Leader with the Bonner Foundation and Network, was awarded the NCPH Book Award, along with colleagues Rebecca Wingo and Jason Heppler, for the new book Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy. The NCPH Book Award recognizes outstanding scholarship that addresses the theory and/or practice of public history or that includes the products of public history work. Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy was recognized as the best book about or growing out of public history published in 2019 or 2020. Schadewald works within the Macalester College Civic Engagement Center, a center that was established more than thirty years ago and is home to a Bonner Leader Program.
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.
After successful nursing careers at Widener, two graduates joined forces on social media to share their medical journeys and mentor future health care professionals.
Bonner alum from Widener University, Ricki Boateng ‘21 and Priscilla Adenugba ‘21 are the creators behind LifeLine, a social media account aimed at offering guidance and day-to-day insight for aspiring medical professionals. The former classmates launched the platform in their final year at Widener to shine a light on the often hard-to-navigate path to medicine, particularly for minorities.
The Shop @ TCNJ, a food pantry that opened its doors in February 2019, recently received a $100,000 grant to continue the fight against food insecurity on TCNJ’s campus and in local communities. The grant, which is part of Governor Murphy’s “Hunger Free Campus” initiative, will allow The Shop @ TCNJ to expand programming around hunger and homelessness awareness, add more fresh food options, add a mobile/drop-and-go service, and reconvene its hunger task force.
The Shop @ TCNJ has been a collaborative effort between the college, the AmeriCorps Scholars program within the Bonner Institute, and the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank.
More than 100 Bonner students and seven recent graduates of the program shared their service experiences with the Foundation Staff this Summer, highlighting the role the Bonner program played in their growth as students, advocates, and civically-engaged professionals. Their responses bring to light specific program aspects such as “exposure to or experience with diversity,” “long-term community engagement,” and “community-defined service-projects” with implications for program structure and practices. The program implications are discussed through two research briefs (included), prepared by Rollins Bonner Leader Emily Curran who served as the Student Impact Intern, and Rachayita Shah, Community-Engaged Scholarship Director at the Bonner Foundation.
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — University of Richmond students McKenna Dunbar, a junior from Washington, D.C., and Indya Woodfolk, a senior Bonner Scholar from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant to support a project empowering minoritized peoples related to environmental justice.
Projects for Peace is an initiative supporting college students on grassroots projects that are designed to build peace.
Five Centre College Bonner students completed Summer of Service internships at different non-profit organizations around Danville, Kentucky.
Aidan Isaac ’24 (Lexington, Kentucky) interned with the Boyle County Farmers’ Market; Jonathan Gambrel ’22 (London, Kentucky) worked with Clark’s Run Environmental Education Corp. (CREEC); Lyric Hyde ’23 (Campbellsville, Kentucky) was a CentreWorks intern on campus; Cynthia Nieto ‘23 (Phoenix Arizona) worked with Shepherds House; and Melissa Perello ’23 (Louisville, Kentucky) worked at Blue Bird Market.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 16, 2021 – High Point University dedicates thousands of hours annually giving back to the community in many ways. The university will now be able to grow its community outreach programs thanks to a generous grant.
Oak Foundation is helping fund the creation of the HPU Center for Community Engagement which is expected to begin operating in the fall. The $5.5-million grant is one of the largest in HPU’s history. The international organization has funded more than 5,400 grants worldwide since it was founded in 1983.
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.
West Virginia Daily News — August 9, 2021
While summer provides an opportunity for vacations and being away from school, the season proved to be a good time for Concord University Bonner Scholars to assist campus and community through volunteer service.
A total of 27 Concord Bonner Scholars served in a variety of settings this summer. Among these many locations are Pipestem State Park, Pipestem, W.Va.; CU Upward Bound Program, Athens, W.Va.; Planet Extreme Teen Center, Princeton, W.Va.; Big Creek People in Action, War, W.Va.; McDowell Commission on Aging, Welch, W.Va.; Hinton Area Foundation, Hinton, W.Va.; City of Oceana Youth Programs, Oceana, W.Va.; and, Bluefield Community Center, Bluefield, W.Va.
Students selected to participate in the Bonner Scholars Program not only have opportunities for community service and leadership development, they also enjoy the benefits of financial aid that helps them pay for their education.
“The summer service component of our Bonner program is unique; there are few scholarships that provide aid or funding for students outside of the traditional academic year,” stated Kathy Ball, director of Concord’s Bonner Scholars Program.
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.
