MAIN | AGENDA | REGISTRATION | WORKSHOPS | LOGISTICS/TRAVEL |
SHUTTLE SERVICE | SOCIAL EVENTS | BIG IDEA | ROSTER | CONGRESS MEETING ARCHIVES
Bonner Congress 2011: The Change Exchange
Bonner Congress Representatives from around the country gathered at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey — with a mission to develop their Big Ideas, strategize about issues in their region, and learn from each other and national partner organizations.
Now in its third year, the Big Idea project prompted student representatives to come to the meeting with a range of ideas for improving and enhancing the Bonner Program and service more broadly in their campus communities. Through two specific "Big Idea" sessions throughout the meeting, students refined their vision, strategy, timeline and goals. Participants engaged in project planning inspired by lessons learned from visionaries, student movements and social entrepreneurs past and present. Through tools such as the EPIC laser talk, logic chart, effort and reach, task design, and other models, Bonners thought strategically about how to mobilize others back on campus. Individual Big Idea project proposals for 2010-2011 can be found here. To initiate sharing and feedback with other Reps, campus teams were organized into 6 Big Idea Focus Areas for the 2011-2012 Academic Year:
- Student Development & Leadership | student experience, cornerstone activities, Bonner bonding
- Community Partnerships focused on Youth | college access, mentoring, tutoring, sustainability
- Community Partnerships focused on other Issue Areas | domestic violence, environment, ESL programming
- Campus-Wide Engagement | involving more students, awareness campaigns, speakers
- Special Campus-Wide Initiatives | Bonner branding, service summit
- Policy and Change Campaigns | policy organizing, issue organizing such as mental health and poverty
Also, the Bonner Advisory Board (BAB) of the Bonner Congress led the Bonner Congress as student facilitators and organizers throughout the meeting. Founded in 2009, BAB carries the mission of planning and facilitating national meetings, organizing with schools in their region, and contributing to national initiatives such as the Monthly Student Newsletter and Bonner Blog. For the second year, Regional Teams organized and competed in a fun and collaborative way to promote regional sharing:
- AQUA: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
- GOLD: Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, California, New Mexico
- JADE: Kentucky, Tennessee
- PLUM: Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey
- RUBY: Pennsylvania, West Virginia
- RUST: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio
Students gathered in their regional teams during one session that focused on how to conduct "Change Campaigns" in their region, wherein individual campuses will work to push forward a similar goal such as "greening" their campus, introducing local food into their dining services, or campaigning for fair trade coffee. They also participated as Regional Teams in the Bonner Congress Regional Olympics: a competitive series of games, activities, and presentations throughout the meeting.
The winners of the Bonner Regional Olympics this year was Team Aqua, followed by Team Rust in 2nd place and Ruby in 3rd. Congratulations to those teams, and to all Reps who participated!!
Many Local and National Partner Organizations joined us, including:
Coming away from the meeting, Reps committed to meeting with their Bonner administrators and fellow student leaders back on campus to follow through with their Big Idea for the year. They also drafted ideas for regional organizing — we look forward to seeing how those unfold!
Thanks again to the Rider staff and students, partner organizations, BAB members, and facilitators for a job well done.
We hope you'll continue to engage in the "Change Exchange" through social media — whether it be on our Facebook group, through Twitter, or on the Bonner Blog. See you there, and see you later at SLI 2012!
Bonner love,
Kelly
Kelly Behrend
Program Associate
Bonner Foundation
