Pictured: Emilia Hodal of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, left, presents a Collaboration for Change Award to SLI student leaders represented by University of Richmond students Ángel-Xavier Elizondo, Luis Montano, and Denis Velazquez-Mondragon. Photo courtesy of the University of Richmond
Scholars Latino Initiative student leaders at the University of Richmond received the Collaboration for Change Award at the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement’s Engage for Change Awards celebration in September.
The award honors a collaborative community-based partnership between campus and community stakeholders, and is given to an individual or group who recognizes the importance of authentic relationships and genuine collaboration to affect change. Criteria include: a sustained commitment to an evolving and iterative relationship over time; partnerships that exemplify collaboration as a process of co-creation; a respect for the knowledge and expertise of all stakeholders; and a demonstrated outcome that reflects mutually shared goals emerging from the partnership.
Accepting the award for SLI were the university’s student-led SLI mentors group co-presidents Denis Velazquez-Mondragon, a Richmond and Oliver Hill Scholar studying cognitive science, psychology, and linguistics (pre-health), and Luis Montano, a Bonner Scholar studying biochemistry and molecular biology major, and treasurer Ángel-Xavier Elizondo, a Bonner Scholar studying philosophy, politics, economics, and law.
“We are motivated by a desire to contribute, foster connections, and create positive, shared growth,” they shared. “The satisfaction of helping others, especially those in the shoes we once wore, and learning from collective experiences drive meaningful interactions.”
The original SLI was founded by Peter Iver Kaufman and others in 2001 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2008 Kaufman brought SLI to the University of Richmond, Virginia, where he holds the George Matthews & Virginia Brinkley Modlin Chair in Leadership Studies, and later to the Shenandoah Valley, where this organization was incorporated in 2012 and became a 501(c)(3) public charity. With programs in Harrisonburg, Richmond, and Winchester, Virginia, its mission is to support Latino/a/x high school students with college access through rigorous academic challenge, leadership development, scholarships, and supportive mentorships.
