B OCNONREPRO R LE D EARNSN U PR AA TE AO L GRREAP M ORT ANNUAL REPORT Campus Y | UNC Chapel Hill The name of the company or slogan
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From the Director When Campus Y Director Richard Harrill first introduced me to a national program that links public service to academics, a network that spans across 80 college campuses, it seemed like a natural fit for the Campus Y, where we have a long history of nurturing student growth through social justice and community engagement work. When we adapted and launched the UNC Bonner Leaders Program in 2011, I had no idea of what the next few years would look like. Now, four years later, we have graduated our first cohort, the Bonner Class of 2015, and what an extraordinary experience this has been. Each of these graduates has demonstrated the impact that a four-year civic engagement, student development model can have. It has shaped their Carolina experience and significantly contributed to their personal and professional development. They have each made important contributions to their community partners, providing new ideas and approaches to issues of education, youth development, food insecurity, and community development. They have also forged a remarkable community of support, They have each made encouragement, and caring that has given meaning to the phrase, “Bonner Love.� important contributions These 13 Bonner Leaders are now going out into the larger world. I have every confidence that each of them will now use their Bonner and Carolina experience to find a unique way of addressing the challenges of our times and continuing to work for the common good and a better world.
to their community partners, providing new ideas and approaches
Each of these graduto issues of education, ates has also served as mentor and role model youth development, food for the Bonner Leaders in the classes below them. I insecurity, and community know that the rising Bonner classes will step development. forward, making their own mark and contributions to community and campus, and building on the legacy that this first graduating class has created. I look forward to the coming years, filled with gratitude for the privilege of working with these amazing students and eager to see what comes next.
Lucy Lewis Director, Bonner Leaders Program
Carolina Bonner Leaders Program Snapshot: 2011-15 The Bonner Leaders Program at the Campus Y pairs a caring, diverse, and committed group of students with local nonprofits. Each student stays with her or his nonprofit for four years, ensuring deeper understanding and responsibility.
49 students Representing 18 NC counties 14 out-of-state students 15 first-in-family to attend college 31 UNC Covenant Scholars
9,800 COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS IN 2014-15
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Community Partners
In our first year, the Bonner Leader program partnered with three community organizations. A year later, we expanded our placement network to include eight more partners. Our network now includes 13 nonprofits. The Bonner Leaders Program at the Campus Y pairs outreach coordinators, cultural heritage preservationeach student with a local nonprofit in the Chapel Hill/ ists. A few are launching new organizations to augment Carrboro area for four years. Bonner Leaders Program existing community services in the area of food security. Director Lucy Lewis and site supervisors work with the The Bonner Leaders Program’s three initial community Bonners to guide their development from direct-service partners were chosen for two reasons: 1) the organivolunteers as first-years into project leaders, public policy advocates, and community-based Low-income students have historically researchers over the course of the four-year partnership. been underrepresented in the ranks of Low-income students have historically been student volunteers because they are underrepresented in the ranks of student volunteers because they are more likely to more likely to be working their ways be working their way through college. The Bonner Leaders model uses federal work-study through college. funding earmarked for community service to allow our students to commit to approximately 200 zations had existing relationships with the Campus Y hours of service per year. This allows for a level of civic through student social justice committees, and 2) the engagement virtually unmatched by the rest of the Campus Y had developed significant insight into the student body. communities served by these organizations through a needs-based assessment project funded by the Jesse First-year Bonner Leaders make introductory site visits Ball DuPont Foundation. The Bonner Leaders Program to community partner organizations in the fall, meeting has expanded its community partnerships and increased staff and learning about each organization’s programthe scope of issues addressed as the program grows. ming before choosing where they want to work. UNC Bonner Leaders are currently working as literacy tutors, All our partners work with underserved communities, youth mentors, food insecurity volunteers, community often low-income and communities of color.
Blue Ribbon MentorAdvocate Program (Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools) A comprehensive support program providing students of color with mentoring, tutoring, advocacy, enrichment, leadership training and scholarship support services.
Hargraves Community Center (Chapel Hill Recreation and Parks Department) The Hargraves Center is a multipurpose community and recreation center located in the historic Northside Community. It offers year-round educational, recreational and athletic programming for all ages.
Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association (RENA) Community Center The RENA Center serves the Rogers-Eubanks community, which was the site of the country landfill for 40+ years. Programming includes youth after-school programming and summer camp, Back-to-School Bash, environmental justice education, computer classes, and Unity in the Community days. The Center closed in 2012 and reopened in the fall of 2014.
Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE) SCALE supports student tutoring in local day cares and elementary schools. The organization supports campus-based literacy programs in North Carolina and nationwide, and hosts the Read. Write. Act Conference and Global Youth Service Day events. SCALE also organizes National Literacy Action Week.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Human Rights Center A center focused on the needs of new immigrant communities. Projects include tutoring and activities for youth, providing a safe space for learning and sharing, and workshops for the community. .
Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History The Jackson Center is a public history and community development center, with activities including oral history interviews, Heavenly Grocery/La Comida food ministry, and Fusion Youth Radio.
Sacrificial Poets Sacrificial Poets inspires, fosters, and promotes artistic expression, personal growth, and social justice for youth through the use of the spoken and written word. Serving middle, high school and college-aged youth, the organization facilitates writing and performance workshops throughout North Carolina and hosts regular youth poetry events.
Street Scene Teen Center
(co-sponsors Street Scene Inc., Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation) Street Scene provides a safe place for teens to do homework and “hang out,� with staff who provide a caring ear, friendship, guidance, and support.
Empowerment, Inc. A nonprofit organization specializing in community organizing, affordable housing, and grassroots economic development to empower people and communities to control their own destinies.
Volunteers for Youth Volunteers for Youth serves at-risk youth through individualized mentorship, a community service program that oversees court-ordered volunteer work, a teen court, and a weekly life skills group for middle school aged girls.
Farmer Foodshare An organization that seeks to alleviate hunger, malnutrition and poverty in North Carolina by providing fresh food to people at risk for hunger, while building healthy community food systems and enhancing community economic development.
Table, INC. TABLE, Inc. works to feed hungry children in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area, raise awareness about local childhood hunger, teach children about healthy eating habits, and support local efforts to help the one in four local children at risk of hunger.
Orange County Family Resource Center The Resource Center offers a range of programs to address community needs, including afterschool homework assistance and enrichment activities.
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The Carolina Bonner Model The Bonner Leaders Program has a transformative impact on both the student and the local community. There are four key components to our model:
Community Partners
Campus Partners
Student Engagement and Development
Capacity Building Co-Curriculum
Our student development model couples intensive community work with weekly capacity building workshops that prepare Bonners to assume increasing responsibilities with community organizations. These students are serving on local task forces and boards, developing new partnerships, and strengthening nonprofit capacity, especially in the areas of social media and grant writing. The Bonner Leaders Program at the Campus Y was developed in response to four of the Y’s strategic goals: • • • •
Diversify student membership (in alignment with UNC Diversity Plan); Support strong community partnerships; Build student capacity; and Measure social impact.
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Carolina has always recognized student service as central to personal and professional development. We at the Campus Y are dedicated to maintaining our commitment to the transformative potential of our Bonner students and their community partners. The biggest challenge to our model is unanticipated fluctuations in federal and state funding. Private support ensures that our students who lose their federal work-study eligibility retain access to critical service and leadership opportunities and enables our Bonner Leaders to continue to demonstrate UNC-Chapel Hill’s impact on our campus and community. Help the Campus Y take that model to the next level by supporting the Bonner Leaders Program.
Why the Campus Y? Established in 1860, the Campus Y is the Center for Social Justice and Social Innovation at UNC-Chapel Hill. As an organization with roots in the YMCA and YWCA, both of which challenged students to reach out to the community, the Campus Y is the perfect place for a program that diversifies student outreach: we are creating more opportunities for students to learn from and make contributions to the global and domestic community through direct service and public policy, advocacy and social entrepreneurship.
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Chapel Hill-Carrboro Human Rights Center Sotires Pagiavlas Class of 2015
Jessica Smith
Class of 2017
Crystal Yuille
Class of 2017
Kalli Bunch
Class of 2018
Chloe Imus Class of 2015 A graduate of East Surry High School in Westfield, NC, Chloe majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies and minored in History. During her first year as a Bonner, she served as an Afterschool Assistant, tutoring elementary school children and adult English Language Learners at Chapel Hill/Carrboro Human Rights Center. In her second year, she improved elementary students’ grade-level performance and retention levels and worked to enhance English-speaking and reading skills of adult ELL students. After studying at the University of Seville, Spain, Chloe spent her third year as Fun Fridays Co-Coordinator, providing a fun supplement to a weekly tutoring initiative, as well as assisting with volunteer coordination efforts. Last summer, she received the Class of 1938 Award to go to Ecuador and study the impact of student volunteering on local communities. Now, a Carolina graduate, Chloe is doing international development work with Global Giving in Washington, D.C.
Hannah Jessen Class of 2015 Hannah came to UNC from Coastal Christian High School in Wilmington, NC. She majored in Journalism and Global Studies and minored in Hispanic Studies. In her first year as a Bonner, she served as an Afterschool Assistant at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Human Rights Center. In her second year, she enhanced enrollment. In her third year, she continued to tutor elementary school children, serving as Fun Fridays Co-Coordinator. She also helped with grant writing, social media, and translating materials. Last summer she received Y Bonner International Service Funding to teach English in the Dominican Republic. After graduation, she will complete a Communications Internship in La Paz, Bolivia for ten months with International Justice Mission, a global organization that helps to protects the poor from violence in the developing world.
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Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History Blanche Brown
Class of 2015
Jemeia Kollie
Class of 2017
Diane Li
Class of 2017
Alexander Peeples Class of 2018
Destinie Pittman
Class of 2018
Joseph Dayaa Class of 2015
A graduate of Freedom High School in Tampa, FL, Joseph majored in Biology with minors in English and Chemistry. During his first year, he edited and transcribed oral histories and assisted with outreach through the Public History Project at Marian Cheek Jackson Center. His second year he worked to create an online database of oral histories, assisted with a course to establish the archive within the UNC library system, helped create lending library of CDs of oral histories, and contributed articles to the Northside News, a monthly community newsletter. His third year he served as supervisor for APPLES volunteers and helped complete three collections in Chapel Hill on Civil Rights, Home, and Tracing Our Roots. In the fall, Joseph will begin a Master’s degree in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University.
Ayat Soufan Class of 2015
After graduating from Rocky Mount Academy in Rocky Mount, NC, Ayat came to UNC to major in Psychology with a Spanish minor. Her first year as a Bonner she worked with the Food Justice Project at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center and assisted with Heavenly Groceries/La Comida Bread Ministry to address issues of food insecurity. During her second year, she served as a Volunteer Co-Coordinator for Food Justice Project, recruiting more than 20 volunteers to assist with hunger relief efforts serving 80-100/day and created a volunteer manual with orientation information about the program with a fellow Bonner. Her third year she received a grant from Strowd Roses Foundation, helped with increasing community outreach, and started seeking other sources of funding. Ayat spent last summer working with the nonprofit, Grocers on Wheels, to expand programming and assist with grant writing. In the fall, she will start a Masters in Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Khristian Curry Class of 2015
Kristian attended Pine Forest Senior High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She majored in Communication Studies with a concentration in Speech and Hearing, and minored in Social and Economic Justice. Her first year she worked with the Food Justice Project at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center and assisted with Heavenly Groceries/La Comida Bread Ministry. Her second year, she was a Volunteer Co-Coordinator for Food Justice Project, recruiting 20+ volunteers to assist with hunger relief efforts serving 80-100/day, and creating the volunteer manual with orientation information with a fellow Bonner. Her third year she worked with volunteer recruitment for Heavenly Groceries. In summer of 2014, she served as camp counselor for Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation and took summer classes. Khristian is currently exploring her career options.
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Hargraves Community Center
Kamille Vargas
Class of 2018
Edward Diaz
Class of 2017
Frederick Ferguson Class of 2016 Freddy participated in The Early College Program at Guilford in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also attended North Carolina Governors School in Winston-Salem. As a UNC student, he majored in Chemistry and a minored in Biology. His first year he served as Program Assistant at Hargraves Community Center, providing academic support and mentoring to elementary school children; six students improved one level in math and five improved one level in reading. His second year he applied to the Y Fund for supplies and conducted community outreach. This past summer he participated in the Medical and Dental Education Program at Duke, conducting research in microbiology and immunology lab. Having graduated from Carolina a year early, Freddy is now working as a Microbiology and Immunology Research Assistant at UNC and applying to medical school.
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Farmer Foodshare
Oscar Menzer
Class of 2017
Caroline Owens
Class of 2018
Travis St. Brice
Class of 2018
Patrick Mateer Class of 2015 A graduate of Chapel Hill High School, Patrick majored in Mathematics and Economics. As a first-year Bonner, he served as an Afterschool Assistant at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Human Rights Center, tutoring elementary school children. During his second year, he served as Lead Volunteer Coordinator at Farmer Foodshare, leading the Donation Station at Carrboro Farmer’s Market, and training 40 new volunteers to collect and distributing donations to food bank programs. As a third-year, he served as a board member at the Human Rights Center and helped facilitate Fun Fridays. He also advised grant work, administered fundraising, and managed HRC’s accounts. After working with Farmer Foodshare’s Pennies on the Pound program, he was accepted to Y CUBE for his venture Seal the Seasons. Last summer he was awarded a Phillips Travel Scholarship for a motorcycle trip through South America, researching the impact of agribusiness on poor agricultural communities. Now that he has graduated, he is CEO of his company, Seal the Seasons.
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Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE)
Helen Erica Kyriakoudes Elliott Class of 2016
Class of 2018
Mia Carrington Class of 2016
Melody Lee Class of 2015 Melody attented Olympic High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her major was Exercise and Sports Science. Her first year she worked with the Youth Media Project at Marian Cheek Jackson Center in Chapel Hill’s Northside community and interned at RENA Community Center assisting with their afterschool tutoring program. Her second year she volunteered as an America Reads Tutor at SCALE, working with two fifth graders, one third grader, and a kindergartner (all performed higher on end of semester Bader Reading and Language Inventory assessments). Following her second year she studied abroad in Korea during the fall of 2014. He third year she tutored through SCALE. Now that she has graduated she will begin serving with the Peace Corps in Cambodia.
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Street Scene Teen Center
Sarah Henderson Class of 2017
Blue Ribbon MentorAdvocate Program
Cameron Bynum
Jerome Allen
Class of 2016
Class of 2016
Empowerment, Inc.
Lynn-Indora Destiny Edmond Rogers Class of 2016
Class of 2016
Elliot Chen
Class of 2017
TABLE, Inc.
Tiffany Turner
Class of 2018
Cameron Coughlin
Class of 2016
Class of 2017
Catherine Jackson-Jordan Class of 2016
Sacrificial Poets
Alaowei Amanah
Class of 2018
Rashiidah Amber Richardson Pritchard Class of 2017
Class of 2016
Orange Co. Family Resource Center
Samira Dahdah
Sarah Rachel Howard Woolridge
Class of 2017
Volunteers for Youth
Jason Urbano
Class of 2017
Whitney Edmonds
Class of 2017
Class of 2016
Seun Omitoogun Class of 2018
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Bonner Senior Interns This year, for the first time, we had Senior Interns who were Bonner Leaders. Each senior intern worked with a cohort of other Bonners, organizing trips and exchanges, working on websites, listservs, community outreach, and external communications, and managing student bloggers.
Zach Kaplan Class of 2015 Zach graduated from Central Bucks High School South in Warrington, Pennsylvania. He majored in American Studies and Political Science, with a minor in Hispanic Studies. His first year he served as a Center Assistant at RENA Community Center assisting with the Bread Wrapping and Distribution project, Community Garden, and after-school tutoring program. His second year he conducted policy research examining the effect of the Community Center’s 2012 closing, created a communication network between Rogers Road and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, contributed articles on the Rogers Road struggle to the Jackson Center’s newsletter, and created a children’s curriculum with Daron Holman about Rogers Road history. His third year he focused on the issue of student and resident engagement, and recruited volunteers to tutor at Northside Elementary. This past summer he taught at Student U in Durham. In the fall of 2015, he will begin teaching at the Maureen Joy School in Durham through Teach for America.
Daron Holman Class of 2015 A graduate of Pine Forest Senior High School in Fayetteville, NC, Daron double majored in Mathematics and Mathematical Decision Sciences. His first year, along with Zach, he served as a Center Assistant at RENA Community Center, assisting with the Bread Wrapping and Distribution project, Community Garden, and after-school tutoring program. His second year he conducted policy research and helped create the communication network between Rogers Road and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. He also contributed articles to the Jackson Center’s newsletter and helped with the children’s curriculum around Rogers Road history. His third year he helped facilitate a graduate class from NCCU on oral history, and evaluated their work at the Jackson Center. This past summer he attended summer school and served as a Summer Tour Guide at UNC. Now a Carolina graduate and Emerson Hunger Fellowship recipient, Daron will spend the next year conducting hunger-related research in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Paris Vaughn Class of 2015 Paris attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, CA, and majored in Economics (Management and Society), with a minor in Hispanic Studies. During her first year, she edited and transcribed oral histories and assisted with outreach projects through the Public History project at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. In her second year, her work broadened to include the neighboring Pine Knolls community in the distribution of the Jackson Center’s monthly newsletter, and she solicited numerous community donations for the Center’s annual May Day celebration. In the spring of 2014, she studied abroad in London, England and interned with eBay. She spent the last summer working as a Financial Representative for Northwestern Mutual in Las Vegas and working for the Las Vegas Cosmetic Surgery Convention. Paris will begin working with Amazon in New York in the fall.
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Capacity Building The UNC Bonner Leaders Program relies heavily on our campus partnerships to deliver the highest quality capacity building in the form of workshops, speakers, and seminars focusing on six “common commitments”: Civic Engagement, Community Building, Values Exploration, International Perspective, Diversity, and, of course, Social Justice.
Because capacity building sessions are not for academic credit, we call them our “co-curriculum.” Over four years, Bonner Leaders spend approximately 250 hours in these weekly sessions on skill-building, leadership development, and critical issues. The weekly co-curriculum helps our students adapt to a university environment, build a Bonner group identity, better understand the communities they work with, build skills to effectively assist their community partners, understand the root causes of the issues they are addressing, and reflect on their experiences. The co-curriculum expanded this year to develop more advanced topics for third-year Bonners and helped the senior Bonners explore career pathways as well as create their senior “Presentations of Learning.” The program tapped faculty, community partners, and leaders in the nonprofit community to facilitate workshops and discussions. Bonners also met several times throughout the year as site and issue-based teams to share their experiences and collaborate.
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Our Six Common Commitments:
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2014-15 TOPICS ORIENTATION • Black and Blue Tour of Campus • Time Management LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT • Myers-Briggs – A Tool for Self-Awareness • Strengths Quest • Goal Setting • Effective Facilitation • Social Media • Grant Writing 1.0 • Networking • Public Speaking • Resume Writing • Training the Trainers – Best Practices • Healthy Lifestyles
2014-15 FACILITATORS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
COMMUNITY BUILDING • Community Building • Communication & Conflict Resolution 1.0 and 2.0
•
SOCIAL JUSTICE • Applied Reflections on Service • Oral History with a Community Perspective • School to Prison Pipeline • Economic Inequality and Social Mobility
• • • • • • •
DIVERSITY • Working Across Lines of Difference • A Fergsuon Dialogue • Race, Identity and Leadership • Race and Racism • Gender, Gender Identify, Gender Expression • The Times of Harvey Milk CIVIC ENGAGEMENT • Education, Reform and Entrepreneurship • Effective Advocacy • Town Council Meeting VALUES EXPLORATION • Values and Post-Grad Exploration • An Open Life – Myths and Meaning INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE • Ethics of Global Engagement
•
Dr. Kim Abels, Director, UNC Writing Center John Brodeur, Director, Carolina Leadership Development Blanche Brown, Bonner Leader Angel Collie, Assistant Director, UNC LGBTQ Center Cameron Coughlin, Bonner Leader Will Dudenhausen, Trainer, Orange Co. Dispute Settlement Ctr. Alexana Garcia, Literacy Programs Director, SCALE Jacquie Gist, Assistant Director, University Career Services Richard Harrill, Director, Campus Y Dr. Jim Johnson, Professor, Kenan-Flagler Business School Michelle Johnson, Trainer, Dismantling Racism Zack Kaplan, Bonner Leader Kate Kryder, Assistant Dir., Carolina Leadership Development Patrick Mateer, Bonner Leader Will McInerney, Program Assistant, UNC Men’s Project Dr. Tim McMillan, former Senior Lecturer, Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies Ryan Nilsen, Student Services Specialist, Carolina Center for Public Service Dr. Tema Okun, faculty, Educational Leadership Department, National Louis University Michal Osterweil, Lecturer, Global Studies Earl Martin Phalen, CUBE Social Entrepreneur-In-Residence Jordan Radke, Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology Mary Rosage, Graduate Intern, University Career Services Dr. Tom Sowders, Communications Coordinator, Campus Y Lee Storrow, Chapel Hill City Council Member Paris Vaughn, Bonner Leader
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2014-15 Program Highlights This year was our first at full capacity. Four cohorts of Carolina Bonner Leaders—49 in all— used social justice as a lens to view our campus and community, while engaging in service, public policy, and social entrepreneurship. Bonner Student Congress: Every year, students from each Bonner school are asked to develop a Big Idea that can broaden the scope of their individual work. Two second-year Bonners, Cameron Bynum and Elliot Chen attended the annual Bonner Student Congress in November at Guilford College. Cameron and Elliot proposed a stronger Bonner alumni network. They spent several months creating a template for a Bonner alumni website, and the national Bonner Foundation will finish building out the site. Bonner Leadership Team: Elliott and Cameron also returned to Chapel Hill excited about creating a Bonner Leadership Team or BLT, using the model developed by many of the national Bonner programs. They launched the first BLT this spring, with Jason Urbano selected to lead the Finance and Assessment Committee, with Destinie Pittman; Cameron Coughlin leading Community-building, with Crystal Yuille; and Jessica Smith leading Special Projects, with Alexander Peeples. The Bonner Leadership Team is being piloted as a way to: • Provide additional leadership opportunities for Bonners;
• Provide additional student input into shaping and developing the program; and • Increase the capacity of the staff and intern team to promote community building, raise and allocate funds, conduct meaningful evaluations and support special projects. We also continued to support new projects through the Y Fund, created through the generosity of a donor to support Bonner Community Partners. Soccer Team: Senior Intern Zack Kaplan organized the first ever Bonner soccer team, “Lucy and the Bonners,” which took to the field in October 2014. The team finished their short season with a 1-2 record, and, while more victories would have been nice, playing as a team increased team spirit and birthed a new Bonner tradition.
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First-Year Experience First-year Bonners travelled to Durham in March to learn more about farmworkers and their struggle for fair wages, health and safety, and decent living conditions. The day began with a presentation and discussion with Laxmi Haynes, Assistant Director for Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) . The next stop was the Faith and Immigration Summit, where Bonners shared tacos with Summit participants. They joined the Finding Our Voices workshop with youth from Levante, an SAF project, who premiered a song that they had created about their experiences as new immigrants in North Carolina.
Second-Year Exchange Second-year Bonners visited the Guilford College Bonner Scholars Program in February. After brief introductions, both groups travelled to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, located in the Woolworth Building where four North Carolina A&T students instituted the sit-in movement. Later in the day, Carolina and Guilford Bonners reflected on their impressions and shared information about their respective programs.
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Third-Year Retreat The third-year retreat provided an opportunity for the Bonners to spend time getting to know each other, reflect on their their experiences, and make plans for their final year. First, the students attended the Friday night Cornel West lecture, “Then and Now: Race in the South,� then headed out to Camp Quaker Lake.
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North Carolina Internship This spring Campus Y Director Richard Harrill and Bonner Director Lucy Lewis visited two wonderful North Carolina anti-poverty nonprofits to explore the idea of launching Bonner summer internships—Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte and Brunswick Housing Opportunity in the small eastern city of Bolivia. This year, for the first time, we were able to subsidize such an internship. Alaowei Amanah, Class of 2019, who had volunteered with Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte during high school, returned to volunteered with them this summer. This summer work complemented the work Alaowei did with EmPOWERment, Inc. on affordable housing during the academic year in order to deepen his understanding of poverty and homelessness. We hope to find funding in the future so that we can support internships for every Bonner for at least one summer.
International Internship Due to a generous grant of $5,000, we were able to offer two International Summer Service Scholarships to Bonner Leaders. Hannah Jessen, a rising senior, received funding for her work in Hainamosa, the Dominican Republic, allowing her to return to a community that she had previously visited on a mission trip to teach English to elementary school children. Elliot Chen, a rising sophomore, received funding to travel to Bauru, Brazil, where he focused on teaching sports skills to children at a daycare center.
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End-of-Year Celebration On April 10, all four classes of Bonner Leaders and their Community Partners, campus allies, family and friends gathered at Gerrard Hall adjoining the Campus Y for their annual end-of-the-year celebration. This year we also celebrated the graduating Class of 2015 – the first Bonners to complete the program! Campus Y Director Richard Harrill and Bonner Director Lucy Lewis welcomed those in attendance. Every graduating Bonner gave a short presentation, sharing what these last four years had meant to them through brief remarks or short videos. All the Bonners and their partner organizations were recognized for their commitment and dedication.
Bonner Class of 2015 This year the inaugural class of Carolina Bonner Leaders graduated from UNC, leaving a legacy of “Bonner Love.” One of the unique characteristics of the Carolina Bonner Program at Carolina is that Bonners stay with their chosen community nonprofit for four years. In addition to prolonged local civic engagement, our program also intersects with the Campus Y’s signature global and social entrepreneurship programs. The class of 2015 helped shape these unique aspects of our Bonner program, and, along the way, they won some of the most presigious awards at UNC. Each Bonner will be missed dearly.
Throughout my college experience I have been surrounded by many different dreamers, doers, believers, and thinkers, but none as passionate and committed as the inaugural class of UNC Bonner Leaders. – Daron Holman (‘15)
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Testimonials from the Class of 2015 “Truly being able to see the effects of gentrification on such a strong community has forced me to redefine my values and re-evaluate who it is and what it is that I trust….Change happens because a group of dedicated people work really hard on the ground floor, because people who struggle together also choose to fight together. My work as a Bonner forces me to question, to truly question, to look at a situation and push. But more importantly, I have learned what it feels like to be a part of a community.” - Blanche Brown
“I’ve learned that the community has much to teach me and that people are willing to go to great lengths to create change in the place they live.” - Khristian Curry
“Service creates a mutual exchange of resources — it is not a one-way street like ‘aid.’ Both parties have things to contribute and share ... This program is the best and most defining thing that has ever happened to me. It has given me personal and professional development. It has taught me how human empathy, passion, dedication, discipline, purposeful program planning, and a smart group of people can create change! Can’t wait to further develop my passions cultivated in Bonner in my career and personal life.” - Chloe Imus
‘“The Bonner program has taught me to be more critical of service and the service I take part in. It’s helped me grow as a person.” - Ayat Soufan
“I’ve learned the importance of not going into communities with a pretentious ‘I’m going to help you’ attitude. You’re there to get to know them before you ever start assuming what their needs are.” - Hannah Jessen
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“The most important lesson that I have learned about service during my time as a Bonner is the value of long-term, sustained, personal commitment to a community. I have learned the value of humility and really listening long and hard before speaking, acting, or making any judgment… I have been deeply affected by my four years as a Bonner both professionally and personally — it has undoubtedly impacted the trajectory of my career in social justice and the way I relate to and work with communities.” - Zack Kaplan
“The Bonner program has given me plenty of time for reflection and has led me to start my own company. It’s changed me for the better and given me the tools to move forward in life.” - Patrick Mateer
“The most important thing I learned about service from the Bonner program is that there is a need to be balanced between service work and policy work. I have learned more about the nature of justice and how it is achieved ... I have learned from the people around me in the community how to keep fighting for what you are passionate about despite all of the negatives ... I’m going to miss this program more than I could ever express in words, but I can’t wait to give back and impart some wisdom on the next generation.” - Daron Holman
“I’ve learned that being present in itself is very impactful to young students. Role models are hard to come by ... I’ve become a more compassionate and empathetic person, and a much better teacher. My life has changed for the better as a result of the program.” - Sotos Pagiavlas
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Where the Graduating Bonners Are Going 92% of the graduating class found immediate employment or were accepted to graduate school, a testament not only to the students’ hard work and commitment but also to the fact that they can demonstrate an unparalleled experience in public service. These undergraduates will go out into the world with a proven commitment to the common good, a four-year record of sustained community work, and a unique set of knowledge and skills.
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Our Budget The Bonner Leaders Program draws on existing state funds for the salary of its one staff position, and our student Bonners and Senior interns are paid through a combination of federal and state work-study funds.
Last year, 14 Bonners lost their work-study funding. This year, thanks to generous donors, the program was able to partially subsidize Bonners who lost their work-study funding. The Campus Y is continuing to seek funding to help ensure that all Bonner Leaders are able to successfully complete their 4-year commitments to community partners. Philanthropic support is critical to the following core elements of the program: • • • •
to stabalize student stipends as work-study awards fluctuate each year, provide support for enrichment and training programs; cover student travel to conferences, and the annual Bonner Student Congress; and stipend at least one summer internship for each student.
We believe that the Carolina Bonner Leaders Program has the potential to serve as a model for the UNC system. This year Campus Y staff met with their colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University to explore expanding the Bonner Program to other campuses.
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2014-15 Sources of Funding
2014-15 Program Budget
28 | BONNER ANNUAL REPORT
UNC Campus Partners The UNC Bonner Leaders Program at the Campus Y relies on several key campus partners to help identify, recruit, train, retain, and support students throughout their four-year commitment. Bonner Leaders create a greater understanding of campus-community collaboration as well as engaging other students in important work to be done in the Chapel Hill/ Carrboro community. Thank you all for your support of this program and these students! We could not fund this program without you!
Campus Y 180 A. East Cameron Ave University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 27599-5115 Tel: 919-962-2333 http://campus-y.unc.edu/