The Build Albion Bonner Fellows program is an organization committed to strengthening the bonds between Albion College and the Albion community through building and maintaining strong, mutually beneficial relationships between campus and community partners.  Fellows receive scholarships to increase access to education while serving in the Albion community. While the program is focused on serving the Albion community and Calhoun county, the program is tied to a national network.  The Build Albion Bonner Fellows program is part of the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, an organization committed to educational opportunity and excellence for underrepresented populations in higher education.  The mission of the organization is as follows: “Through sustained partnerships with colleges and congregations, the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation seeks to improve the lives of individuals and communities by helping meet the basic needs of nutrition and educational opportunity.”  

 

While the mission of the Foundation focuses on nutrition and educational opportunity, the organization is also committed to the following core values:

 

  • Civic Engagement: exploring and participating intentionally in multiple forms and dimensions of engagement including service, political engagement, social action, and public policy
  • Community Building: creating and sustaining a vibrant community of place, personal relationships, and shared interests
  • Diversity: respecting the many different dimensions of personal and group identities (such as class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, physical, and mental ability) and creating opportunities to dialogue and learn across differences
  • International Perspective: developing international and global understanding that enable individuals to participate successfully in an increasingly interconnected world, appreciate and transcend national boundaries
  • Social Justice: understand and advocate for fairness, impartiality, and equity in addressing systemic social and environmental issues
  • Wellness: nurturing the development, resilience, thriving, and sustenance of the whole person and of communities

 

Build Albion Bonner Fellows execute the mission and core values of the Foundation through their service on campus and in the Albion community.  On campus, Fellows are exposed to Bonner-approved curriculum focused on social action and change, racial justice, civic agency and identity, and leadership.  Fellows utilize knowledge learned on campus in their service in the community.  Fellows work with their community partners to develop capstone projects focused on community needs during their third year.  Fellows choose a research-based track powered by Albion College Community Collaborative (AC3) or direct service project partnered with the Albion College AmeriCorps program.