Bonnette IshimweWhile surviving many attacks during the genocide, Bonnette tragically lost her father in the conflict. After her father’s unfortunate death, Bonnette’s mother continued to raise her and her younger brother. Bonnette distinguished herself by holding countless leadership positions at her high school, the FAWE Girls’ School, where she graduated with honors. She aspires to be a legislator and work on policies that foster excellence in education, environmental protection, fiscal responsibility, and robust foreign policy. But most of all, Bonnette hopes to mentor other young Rwandan girls and foster future women leaders who will help to grow Rwanda’s economy. Bonnette graduated from Whitman College in 2018 with a degree in politics & French. She was an active member of the First Generation Working Class Club and was elected the President of African Student Association during her time at Whitman. During the summer of 2015, she attended Middlebury’s MiddCORE leadership conference at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada. In 2016, she spent her summer interning at Congresswoman Betty McCollum's office in Washington D.C. In 2017, she spent her spring semester with the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. and secured a coveted summer internship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda.
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Attended |
Academic MajorPolitics & French
Class of 2018 |
Mentor |