April received the Legacy Award.
This tribute recognizes individuals (including those who are no longer with or outside the network) who have made significant, positive impact and contributions to the Bonner Network and/or field of civic and community engagement.
Allison received Lives of Service Award
This tribute recognizes individuals (staff, faculty, and/or partners) who have made long-term commitments through 10+ and 20+ years of work with the Bonner Program.
Allison received the Engaged Scholar Award
This tribute recognizes scholars and practitioners who have made significant contributions to the field of through community-engaged research, scholarship, and/or action that produces knowledge in partnership with communities.
The Academic Achievement Award: Asavari Gowda
Asavari is graduating with a degree in Biology and a minor in Political Science and Spanish, and is a member of the Siena/AlbanyMedical College Program. In addition to her stellar 4.0 GPA, Asavari’s work in the community and her dedication to helping others have made her an all-star Bonner and a fantastic community-engaged learner! Through mentoring first-year Bonners as the Program Associate in charge of Academic Support to supporting her sophomore Bonner Buddies and even assisting with recruitment last summer while back home in California busy with research and internships! I can not wait to see what Asavari will accomplish next and look forward to one day meeting DOCTOR Asavari Gowda. Congratulations!
The Life of Service Award: Marina Barsoum
The Life of Service award is presented to an ACE Member who embodies the integration of service and academics into their long-term career goals.
Marina Barsoum is graduating as a sociology major and will be continuing her education by pursuing a Master's of Public Health AND a Master's of Social Work at UAlbany starting in the fall! Marina has grown so much over the course of her time in the Bonner program and truly exemplifies what it means to be a Bonner! Her passion for helping the aging population and making their voices heard through her capstone research has shown her dedication to service and is something I know she will continue into her graduate studies! I am so proud of the growth Marina has shown over the last two years of knowing her, and I can not wait to see what she will accomplish next! Marina, I know you will continue to serve your community through your personal connections and passions!
The Bonner Changemakers of the Year Award: Abby James-Vickery and Kimberly Lopez
Both of these amazing Bonners were nominated by their peers to receive this award and have shown in both their actions and their words what it means to be a Bonner Service Leader! Abby has been a member of the Program Associate team, working hard to build the training schedule for Wednesday night class, engaging her fellow Bonners in bonding activities, and assisting me in wrangling the group when things get out of hand! I know she will go on to do great things next year as she moves on to pursue her Master's of Social Work at Marist University in the fall. Kim has been a shining light and a true example of what it means to be a Bonner! Her upbeat attitude and beautiful singing voice always bring a smile to my and her fellow Bonners' faces! After Siena, Kim will be heading back to the city and will be working in a school teaching kindergarten and first grade. If you know anything about Kim, you know that this role is a perfect fit for her. I am so proud of what both of you have accomplished as Bonners over the past four years, and I hope you will come back in the future to share your experience with future Bonners.
Engaged Scholars Award: Aleksandra Wojtowycz
The Engaged Scholar Award is being presented to the ACE member who best embodies the integration of service and academics. This year we present the award to Lesia Wojtowycz. Throughout her time in NExT, Lesia has been committed to the civic aspects of community engagement and has meaningfully reflected on how her academics, particularly her Political Science work, and NExT service relate to one another. Beyond this, she has exemplified leadership in our program, choosing to do a 410 project that allowed her to run a class on the relationship between civic and community engagement, presenting on her work to a nonprofit partner to enact data transparency, and worked to write-up her experience for a public-facing publication. All of this work helped Lesia to integrate her service and academics. I am going to miss Lesia, who has been a backbone of our program for 6 semesters, but she has truly reached the pinnacle of what this program can do. Congratulations, Lesia!
NExT Changemaker: Kelyse Mallory
The NExT Changemaker of the Year for 2025 is being awarded to Kelyse Mallory. Kelyse was not even involved in NExT before the fall of 2025, when I asked her to take the lead on a project. She was new to community engagement, but I could tell she was open to learning, had a mind for detail, and would succeed as a Team Leader. And she did! Her teammates noted the way she built community, made them feel heard, and even with an entirely new team this semester, Kelyse was able to get them up to speed and encourage them to take initiative on the project. Her relationship with our partner for the Schenectady County Food Council, Sofia, was so strong that even after not knowing anything about community engagement specifically, she had one of the strongest partnerships I’ve seen among what has been a very successful year for NExT Team Leaders and partnership management. Her integrity, willingness to ask questions, and strong work ethic made an incredible impact in NExT, so please join me in congratulating Kelyse, our 2025 NExT Changemaker of the Year!
The ACE Associate Changemaker of the Year: Liamell Quezada
Liamell has been with ACE for the past four years! From day one Liamell hit the ground running. There was no project that was too big or small for her. She would give 100% in everything she did always with a positive outlook and a smile! She has worked on the Annual Report with Allison, helped with interviewing and also developed the ACE Awareness Calendar. This calendar will live on for years to come where we can embrace and recognize various holidays and days of celebration for everyone! We wish Liamell all the best in her future pursuit of a marketing career!
The Nicholas Ramundo Class of 2014 Award: Charles “Charlie” Gaffney
This award is presented to an ACE member who has worked with enthusiasm and spirit to develop, integrate and support the ACE community. Charlie has been a true leader and Saint in our Center.
During his four years as an ACE Associate, Charlie has shown leadership, enthusiasm, positivity and support in all the projects he has been part of. Most notably the SIENAserves campus wide service day where his creativity, passion and leadership skills were clearly represented. His professionalism and dedication has truly impacted our Center! Charlie has also left an indelible mark as a mentor to his fellow ACE Associates and we all wish him well as Charlie continues his education in graduate school focusing on Environmental Sciences!
NExT Faculty Member of the Year: Dr. Shahryar Gheibi
The winner of the 2024 ACE Faculty Member of the Year Award, specifically for NExT, is Dr. Shahryar Gheibi. Dr. Gheibi has been connected with ACE for quite some time and is partly responsible for a revision I made to NExT this year, where Faculty Mentors presented to the class on their areas of expertise. Dr. Gheibi raised this option to me in the fall, after he spent one semester as a NExT Faculty Mentor, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. He led two classes on project scheduling that the students loved and appreciated so much, they overwhelmingly nominated him for this award. I can also say that I appreciated his insights in our faculty presentations - he was perceptive and offered unique ideas for students to consider in their projects. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Shahryar Gheibi for receiving the 2025 NExT Faculty Member of the Year Award!
ACE Partner of the Year: United Way of the Greater Capital Region
The winner of the ACE Partner of the Year Award for 2025 is the United Way of the Greater Capital Region. The United Way has been a phenomenal partner for ACE, including with a SPIn team studying their Summer Meals program from summer 2022 through 2024. We want this award to recognize that work and all of our collaboration, but Claire Reid is accepting this award today, and it is as good as hers. Claire has served as a Faculty Mentor in our program this semester as well, providing insight as a steward of relationships in the impact sector. NExT Fellows reached out to her several times to get additional feedback on their projects, and her support steered them in the right direction. In addition, she also led a class session on United Way data on Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed folks, which illuminated the work we do in our program. Please join me in congratulating the United Way, and specifically Claire, for the work she and her organization have done for our members
2025 Bonner Faculty Member of the Year Award: Dr. Rong Fu.
This past year, Dr.Fu has worked alongside Marina as she navigated the Bonner Capstone experience. As Marinas mentor, Dr.Fu assisted her in weekly planning sessions and encouraged Marina to put herself out there! Marina shared her thoughts on Dr.Fu as well: “Dr.Fu is the best advisor and professor I have had, she’s so motivated to help you with your work, and genuinely gets so excited. I couldn’t have done it without her! She gives you so much insight on everything and wants to see you do your best. She really cares for her students, and I cannot wait to keep doing research with her! I wish her the best for everything as she truly deserves it.” Congratulations Dr.Fu and thank you for being such an amazing mentor to our students here at ACE!