The Bonner Community Leaders Program supports Simmons students who are passionate about service, community engagement, social justice, and responsible citizenship. This fall, Simmons announced the inaugural cohort of nine Bonner Leaders. We spoke with four of them, Justine Paragas '26, Solmi Grace Kwak '26, Aislinn Grace Doherty '26, and Marzieh Darling-Donnelly '26, about their involvement in the program.
What attracted you to the Bonner Community Leaders Program?
Paragas: I am attracted to the opportunities it offers to pursue my passions while enhancing my leadership and communication skills. The close-knit community that the program cultivates through our cohort of nine students is also valuable to me because I can develop genuine connections with people who have the same drive and passion to make a difference in our Boston community. As an aspiring physician, the Bonner program provides me with opportunities to further explore the healthcare field and accomplish my goals of advocating for healthcare equity through the program's community partner organizations. With the Bonner program's four-year curriculum driven by leadership and community service, I have the opportunity to be educated both in the mind and heart to best serve the communities I value.
Kwak: What attracted me to the Bonner Community Leaders Program was the aspect of being involved in the Boston community and the opportunity of being able to work with community partners based on your social justice interests.
Doherty: The Bonner Community Leaders Program first got my attention because I spent a lot of my senior year volunteering in my high school community and wanted to continue being of service. I also thought it would be a great way to get involved in both the Boston area and Simmons Community.
Darling-Donnelly: There are so many reasons I was attracted to the Bonner Community Leadership program. I was always raised to believe that young people, that term really used loosely, have so much potential to actively change the society in which they live. This sounds cheesy of course, often completely but rarely carried through with experiences or ways young people can work intergenerationally. I'm a Baha'i, and as a Baha'i so many of those principles guide me, the largest being that one's purpose is to be an active protagonist in the betterment of wherever you're located starting at the local level. It focuses on doing this by systematically reading your reality and the qualms of your community. This is how we connect the grassroots and the international. The Bonner program is a perfect example of all of these factors. It's a beautiful program that focuses on action and reflection, so whatever you're doing is always being consulted upon with others, encouraging humility. It's also a mechanism so that you never fall into doing randomized acts without any end goal or real benefit. I am so impressed by this program, and so grateful to be in it.
What do you hope to accomplish as a Bonner Leader?
Paragas: As a first-generation low-income Filipina immigrant, I hope to use my platform as a Bonner Leader to contribute to making healthcare equitable and accessible to immigrants, BIPOC individuals, LGBTQIA+ people, and other marginalized communities in Boston. I understood the importance of accessing equitable healthcare. By working with Fenway Health, one of Bonner's community partners, I hope to fulfill this goal while further improving my leadership, communication, and networking skills and applying them in a medical career. I hope to become a useful resource to Fenway Health as a Bonner Leader in fulfilling their mission and cultivating a safe space for underserved communities to access quality healthcare.
Kwak: As a Bonner Leader, I hope to accomplish a greater understanding of the Boston community and be able to use this opportunity to address social issues.
Doherty: As a Bonner Leader I am hoping to make a difference in the area through our work with community partners as well as solidifying the Bonner Community Leaders Program for future classes of students. I also want to use this opportunity to work on my leadership, collaboration, and advocacy skills.
Darling-Donnelly: I hope to really learn from the other leaders/partners around me. I have so much to continually learn and relearn, and I'm just honored to be in these spaces with so many people I admire and respect. I want to focus on how I can use four years to continually advance the spaces I'm in, and think of radical new solutions that will last long after I leave Simmons.
Why did you choose Simmons?
Paragas: I chose Simmons because of the plethora of resources they offer for exploring my career interest in medicine while being in a close-knit, small college community. From their proximity to the Longwood Medical Area to accessible research opportunities on campus, Simmons will equip me with the necessary skills to succeed in a healthcare career. The supportive faculty and staff of Simmons provides personalized support in and out of the classroom which was a critical component of my decision to choose Simmons. Furthermore, I love how I have the opportunities to pursue my personal hobbies such as cross country. Having a women's undergraduate experience in Simmons is valuable to me because I can have the necessary support I need to thrive in a male-dominated industry like healthcare while also having a safe space to express my identity as a Filipina woman in STEM.
Kwak: Ever since middle school, I had the dream of wanting to go to Boston for college. I lived in East Lyme, CT all eighteen years of my life and wanted to experience the city life. While I love the small community and vibes of the small town, I wanted a place where I could grow and be able to experience new things. For the longest time, I thought I wanted a big school in the city. It was not until the beginning of senior year, that I realized I wanted a smaller community. I realized that I am not quite the best at adapting to change. I felt that since Simmons University is a smaller school in the city, it would allow me to have a better and smoother transition to the city. I applied to Simmons as a nursing major. I absolutely love that Simmons was right in the Longwood Medical Area. I felt that Simmons would be able to give everything that I need, as a student.
Doherty: I chose Simmons for three major reasons: the 3+1 Information Technology/Library Science program, the proximity to local art museums, and the women-centered aspect of the university. When I visited campus before applying, I felt the sense of community that the school and campus put a main focus on.
Darling-Donnelly: Simmons was first introduced to me because two of my older sisters went to Simmons (now 38 and 31 years old), and I had never heard people speak with such admiration towards their University. What really sold me on Simmons though, was the focus on how what you study can benefit the community around you. Finding a University with a vision so close to my own was wonderful, and finding Bonner after this was just a confirmation to the commitment that I’ve seen Simmons always aim to follow and encourage.