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27 WINTER 2025 aleX berger '11 Senior federal affairs adviser at the Urban Institute TCNJ Bonner alum Creating legions of students for whom service is like breathing is a key goal of the Bonner Program. Alex Berger '11 has taken that aspiration to heart, and with the skills he honed as a Bonner Scholar, he's crafted a career around social justice. He started with a stint teaching for Teach for America, where 90% of his fourth graders had a relative behind bars. "I saw how the criminal justice system not only takes away someone's freedom but also impacts the family, children, and communities," Berger says. "The ripple effects are tremendous." " My Bonner training gave me a broader hope that there is a place to improve the world." — aleX berger Seeing the disproportionate effect of a broken criminal justice system on people of color led Berger to focus on issues such as prison reform, anti-hunger initiatives, and equitable housing. He's done advocacy and policy work in his various roles with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Urban Institute. "My Bonner training gave me a broader hope that there is a place to improve the world," says Berger. "For some people, it is easier to turn away from these issues. I want to roll up my sleeves and help people." Contributors: Bill Cardoni has photographed subjects in more than 30 countries with his work appearing in the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and French Vogue. Barry Falls is an award-winning artist from Northern Ireland. He has worked for The New York Times, The Guardian, Netflix, and UNICEF. Mike Morgan is a Washington D.C.– based photographer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post and People Magazine. Pamela Podger is a freelance writer in Connecticut whose work has appeared in the New York Times. 27 WINTER 2025 "When I think about the legacy of Bonner, and what it does well, it's fostering a commitment to engaging with any community you find your- self in," she says. "It's the most consequential thing I've done." ■ TaMara ibeZiM '12 First-year law student at Drexel University TCNJ Bonner alum "I give full credit to what I was exposed to as a Bonner Scholar for helping me to now understand how I fit into the broader ecosystem of service," says Tamara Ibezim '12. An analyst at Bank of America for more than a decade, Ibezim noticed a lack of diversity in the workplace, especially when it came to women and people of color. So she joined a Black professional group at BOA and went to human resources with ideas for how to source candidates from different places to ensure better representation within the company. "That's what Bonner really teaches you," she says. "We are trained to take it a step further. We look at institutions and advocate for policies that will improve people's lives." It's the difference, she says, "between you going to the soup kitchen to help for a day and going to your city council meeting in support of more resources to keep the soup kitchen open." Ibezim pivoted to law this year with hopes to take on more public-facing roles and to protect individuals' rights on a wider scale.

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