Bonita is a community connector who has worked with schools and non-profits for over twenty-two years, focusing on individual, student, and family access through empowerment. As a Family and Community Partnership Coordinator, Bonita works with students, community members, schools, and local agencies to foster active advocacy. She helps develop and design outreach programming that engages diverse groups of individuals in community-based partnerships while bringing community members together.
Her background in Global Studies, focusing on marginalized groups throughout history, has fueled her passion for equity and inclusion. As a systematic disruptor of oppressive systems prohibiting equal access to marginalized groups, she is passionate about connecting the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community to opportunities and resources that can be embedded in the family’s fabric for generations. She believes communities can thrive through mutual respect, understanding, empathy, and collective partnerships.
Bonita’s passion has led her to serve on the district equity team and as an active member of her building’s Equity Steering Committee. She created the People of Color Group (POC) in her building to help provide a safe space for BIPOC staff members to connect authentically and collectively to foster staff retention. Bonita served on the Advisory Committee to the African American Study Group for Washington State. The committee’s responsibility was to review the curriculum materials currently available and recommend ways to integrate African American History into all history classes in grades 7-12. The committee was also compelled to guide the professional development required to implement African American History in 7-12 grade classrooms.
Before working in schools, Bonita served as a Behavioral Health Social Worker in corporate America, which caused her to develop a passion for reducing barriers to all forms of mental health treatment. Her passion for working with people who struggle with substance use disorder (SUD) and behavioral health (BH) disorders is fueled by hope and advocacy. Her professional career, which spans education, non-profit, and behavioral health, continues to drive her commitment to excellence in connecting the community and individuals to equity and mutual respect.
Bonita’s shared belief with Frederick Douglass, paraphrased, “It is easier to build strong [girls] than repair broken [women],” led her to write her first children’s book, Go on Lil’ Sista, Go On. This book is a poetic anthem and a reminder to young Black girls that they can do or be anything they want. In addition to providing Black girls with a visual representation of the diversity within the Black Diaspora, it normalizes seeking Black girls as the protagonist in children’s books, as Bonita recognizes that non-Black children need to see Black lead characters in children’s books to have a shared cultural experience that fosters an appreciation for ethnicities other than their own.
