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.
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.
One year ago, Professor Adrienne Schwarte and Mark O’Gorman learned about a Bonner Foundation grant that would allow them to start a class focused on social action, and they knew they wanted to get involved. Their passions in design and political science, as well as their involvement with the Center for Community Engagement at Maryville College, came together to create the new “Art, Design, and American Politics” course.
To sum up the mission of the class, Schwarte said, “It’s important to make sure people realize that individuals can make a difference; they do make a difference, and it happens every day.”
The Bonner Foundation is excited to announce a new graduate school partnership with the Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership Program at the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
The new Bonner-MSNPL partnership provides an application fee waiver to Bonner Scholars/Leaders, alumni, or staff. Additionally, Bonner applicants to the MSNPL who are successfully admitted into the program will receive a guaranteed $10,000 one-time scholarship.
Lloyd was recently named to GLAAD’s prestigious “20 Under 20” list of changemakers: a group of outstanding young people who are accelerating acceptance through their work in entertainment and media.
Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton is moving on to become the director of the Teaching Social Action Initiative in collaboration with the Bonner Foundation to encourage students “to apply what they learn about policy to their own organizing. The incorporation of applied activism has been part of his work at SJSU since he started in 1999. The only difference now is he will teach social action to educators, he said.”
On November 18 North Carolina Campus Engagement hosted the 2022 “Engagement Matters” Student Awards Ceremony. Nineteen outstanding students, from within the NCCE member network of colleges and universities, were recognized for their civic and community engagement leadership. The award recipients shared powerful insights about what they have gained or learned by being civically engaged. Friends, loved ones, and campus constituents participated in the Ceremony from throughout the country to celebrate these inspiring students.
Since 2006, the Community Impact Student Awards recognize an outstanding, full-time undergraduate or graduate student service leader from each member campus.
All award winners should clearly demonstrate:
Deep commitment to partnering with others to address community issues
Outstanding ability to lead and inspire fellow students to engage
Evidence of sustainable impact of their work
Two Bonner students were selected by their institution to receive at 2022 Community Impact Student Award (CISA).
In the summer of 2022, National Bonner Summer Interns, Selah Ndouta, Capital University ‘22, Anu Baskar, George Mason University ‘24, and Camila Guayasamin, The College of New Jersey ‘24, led by Liz Brandt, Community Engagement Director, at the Bonner Foundation, worked on a strategic outreach project to increase Bonner’s currently underrepresented graduate school partnerships. This included with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions, and in the STEM fields. The latest graduate school to partner with The Bonner Foundation to provide special benefits to Bonner students and alumni – the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine – was part of that effort.
Earlier this month, Humanity in Action and The Corella & Bertram Bonner Foundation formalized a new partnership. This new three-year partnership commits Humanity in Action to hold at least one Fellowship spot per year for a Bonner Student, while the Bonner Foundation will promote Humanity in Action programs amongst its network and encourage Bonner Scholars and Leaders to apply. The agreement also carries an option to extend the partnership should both organizations wish to do so.
The Bonner Program is a four-year commitment in which Bonner Students commit to a weekly commitment to intensive and meaningful service with a local community organization over the four years as an undergraduate student at one of the Foundation’s campus partners. Bonner Scholars and Leaders also commit to continuing this service over the summer, and the Humanity in Action Fellowship will count towards fulfilling this obligation.
Bonner Scholars past and present will come together next weekend to celebrate two decades of the program at Washington and Lee.
On Oct. 28, a reception will be held in Mattingly House from 4-5:30 p.m. to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of W&L’s Bonner Program. Robert Hackett, president of the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, and Howard Pickett, director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability, will give remarks after an introduction from Bonner Program director Marisa Charley.
Gloria Lwin ’24 has been named to the inaugural cohort of Voyager Scholarship recipients, a prestigious class of 100 college juniors nationwide who plan to pursue a career in public service.
The Voyager Scholarship is funded by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama through the Obama Foundation and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. The scholarship aims to provide college students with financial support for college costs and exposure to new places and experiences, along with a network of mentors and leaders to support them.
Lwin, a Centre College Bonner Leader and native of Owensboro, Kentucky, said her experience with the Bonner Program aided her greatly in the application process.
“The Bonner Program played a huge role in my interest in social justice issues and community service, and because of that experience, I have become more passionate about healthcare disparities,” she said. “My classes at Centre have pushed me, and I’ll be able to use the skills I’ve learned here in this opportunity.”
The Bonner Foundation continues to expand its partnerships with over 20 graduate schools that provide benefits for alumni of national Bonner Programs who want to pursue graduate education.
The latest partnership builds upon an existing relationship with the University of Houston, as one of the 70+ schools that host an undergraduate Bonner Program. Established in 2014, the University of Houston Bonner Leader Program aims to create high-quality educational experiences for students, while simultaneously working to build a better Houston community. As one of the largest programs in the Bonner Network, the University of Houston Bonner Leader Program supports over 100 undergraduate students in its four year program tied to honors. These students engage in sustained, project-based community engagement by focusing on the factors that perpetuate the cycle of poverty including food insecurity, educational achievement, and community health and nutrition.
The expanded relationship with the University of Houston now includes a partnership with the UH’s graduate schools Graduate School. This partnership provides application fee waivers to Bonner alumni or current students applying to any of the University of Houston Masters/PhD programs.
The Bonner Foundation continues to expand its partnerships with graduate schools to provide scholarships and other benefits for Bonner students and alumni pursuing graduate education.
The newest partnership developed in summer 2022 is with Morgan State University's Graves School of Business and Management. This is the second Bonner Foundation graduate partnership with a business school (Rollins College Crummer School of Business as the first) and the first graduate school partnership with a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The Graves School of Business and Management was part of a strategic outreach project to increase graduate school partnerships in underrepresented fields and schools, such as business and STEM.
Morgan State University's Graves School of Business and Management (GSBM) is committed to enhancing academic rigor and quality. Being the first Business School in the State of Maryland, GSBM has over 70 years of experience and expertise in preparing students for the business world. As a student of the Graves School, you will acquire the advanced set of business skills based on a strong liberal arts foundation which enables you to be adaptable to different settings, domestic and global.
At a museum in Medford, Massachusetts, Kyera Singleton is centering enslaved people’s stories—and connecting their histories to the current movement for racial justice.
Singleton is the executive director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, the only known freestanding structure where enslaved people lived in the northern United States. During the pandemic, her innovative leadership included creating virtual events to bring the museum to new audiences.
Singleton views her work as “anything but neutral,” writes her nominator. “Her museum asks audiences to reflect deeply on uncomfortable truths, and to question firmly held cultural assumptions.” She emphasizes enslaved people’s humanity and resilience by highlighting acts of resistance and moments of joy and pleasure.
“You have to center Black people as political agents in their own history. We have always fought for our own freedom, and everyone else’s, and continue to do so today.”
