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The Bonner Community Leaders Program at Simmons University is a unique opportunity for students who want to combine a strong commitment to service with personal growth, teamwork, leadership development, and scholarship. This fall, Simmons announced a new cohort of 11 Bonner Leaders. We spoke with three of them.

• Awards and Honors
• Community Engagement
• Leadership

The Passionate Leaders Project supports Simmons undergraduates by enriching their academic & professional interests beyond the classroom. Students may request up to $4,000 to support their research, internships, and creative endeavors. This semester’s students produced research related to human rights, documentary film, healthcare access, therapeutic care databases, the neurodevelopment of fruit flies, Muslims’ experiences with healthcare in Boston, and software that supports Simmons’ food pantry.

• Awards and Honors
• Leadership

Simmons undergraduates are invited to participate in an essay contest each year on Founder's Day. This year, contestants wrote about how their experience at Simmons realizes John Simmons' vision for educating what President Lynn Perry Wooten calls "everyday leaders" for their life's work. This year's winner was neuroscience major Sonia Vader '27.

• Awards and Honors
• Simmons History
• Traditions & Annual Events

October is National Domestic / Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month. This semester, Simmons University welcomes twelve Master’s in Social Work students into the Survivor Link + Public Health Americorps program, which trains Social Work students to work with survivors.

• Awards and Honors
• Internships & Careers

On October 11, the Simmons community gathered to honor the outstanding achievements of six faculty members representing five disciplines. This year’s awardees received recognition for superlative undergraduate and graduate teaching, research, service, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Awards and Honors
• Mentorship
• Research

“To me the Ifill scholarship is just that: the inception of an amazing legacy and the prospect of a radical future.” — Asiyah Herrera '25

• Awards and Honors
• Scholarships/Financial Aid

Ifill Scholar Carla Bamaca shares her passion for filmmaking and storytelling to inspire change.

• Awards and Honors
• Gwen Ifill
• Scholarships/Financial Aid

Ariel Richardson ’09MA is the Senior Editor in Children’s at Chronicle Books, located in San Francisco. We caught up with Richardson about her role, her time at Simmons, and her recent award-winning picture book.

• Awards and Honors
• Internships & Careers

Incoming student Anna Kelly from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, received a $10,000 Gold Award Scholarship from the Girl Scouts, a special recognition for her community service project “Peer-to-Peer Program in Middle School.” Kelly spoke with us about her passion for community service, mental health, and nursing.

• Awards and Honors
• Scholarships/Financial Aid

This June, Professor Marilisa Jiménez García received the Children’s Literature Association’s annual book award for her 2021 monograph, Side by Side. In this text, Jiménez García explores youth literature and culture as a means to comprehend the complex contours of power relations between Puerto Rico and the United States.

• Awards and Honors