‘When members of our community need service, I want their first thought to be the Lindsey Wilson Bonner program.’
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (07/20/2026) You would be hard-pressed to find a person more passionate about service than Yayi Sonnabend ’23.
And now Sonnabend has been named to lead Lindsey Wilson University’s flagship service program.
Sonnabend has been appointed the university’s director of the Bonner Scholar Program and civic engagement and leadership.
A former Bonner Scholar and student leader while a Lindsey Wilson undergraduate, Sonnabend has served in a number of roles in the Bonner Scholar Program, most recently assistant director.
“Her knowledge of the program, work ethic and mission-driven spirit made it an easy decision to promote her to director of this vital program,” said Dean of Students Chris Schmidt.
Sonnabend said she’s excited about leading a program that has shaped her life, along with nearly 250 other Lindsey Wilson alumni who have been part of it over the last two decades.
“For me personally it’s a wonderful opportunity to continue my professional career with Bonner,” she said. “For the program, it’s an opportunity to build on what was established here more than 20 years ago and create something new.”
Established in 2005, the mission of the Lindsey Wilson Bonner Scholars Program is to transform the lives of students and members, the life of their campuses, their local communities, and the world through service and leadership. Supported by the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation of Princeton, New Jersey, and LWU, Bonner Scholars receive scholarship support in exchange for community service. Lindsey Wilson is one of 65 Bonner colleges or universities in the United States.
“The Bonner program invests in young people who in turn invest in their community,” said Sonnabend.
Most LWU Bonner Scholars spend four years in the program and contribute about 1,200 hours of community service while working with one of the program’s 15-20 community partners, which are located mostly in Adair, Russell and Taylor counties. Partners served by Bonner scholars include after-school programs for area youth, soup kitchens, food pantries, area libraries and children advocacy centers.
In addition to local projects, LWU Bonner scholars also travel to service trips in New York City, Mexico and Florida as a way to gain other perspectives on service.
Sonnabend expects Lindsey Wilson to have about 50 Bonner scholars this school year.
Students who join the Bonner program come from diverse academic backgrounds and have a broad range of career interests. Some of the program’s graduates pursue careers of service while others integrate service into their professions.
‘I wasn’t prepared’
Sonnabend joined the Bonner Scholar Program when she arrived as a freshman at Lindsey Wilson in fall 2019. Although service was already a passion for her — she contributed about 1,200 hours of community service during her four years of high school at North Hardin Christian School in Radcliff, Kentucky — Sonnabend said she was unprepared for the profound impact the Bonner program has on students.
“I wasn’t prepared for the way Bonner changed the way I thought about serving others and also the way I thought about my faith,” said Sonnabend, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in business administration as well as a master of business administration from Lindsey Wilson. “I profess to be a strongly devoted Christian, and I know that serving the least of these is a commandment that Jesus has for us. I just didn’t know what that could look like on a deep, intentional level when you are engaged in that every day as we are in the Bonner program.”
During its two decades of service, Lindsey Wilson Bonner Program has been responsible for nearly 250 alumni who have collectively given almost 400,000 hours of community service. Based on Kentucky’s average for the value of a volunteer hour, that translates into an economic impact of more than $11.5 million.
In her first year leading the Bonner program, Sonnabend hopes to modestly increase the number of students participating while also developing deeper partnerships both on campus and in surrounding communities.
“When members of our community need service, I want their first thought to be the Lindsey Wilson Bonner program,” said Sonnabend.
And she says that because of the complementary missions of Lindsey Wilson and the Bonner Foundation, that goal is within reach.
“Bonner in general is special, but Bonner is made even more special because we live in the environment that is Lindsey Wilson University,” said Sonnabend. “We have a tight-knit campus that is already doing community service in a lot of our majors, programs and sports. We also have a campuswide day of service. We are a place where service is a big part of our identity and mission.”
Yayi Sonnabend, a 2023 Lindsey Wilson alumna, has been named director of the university’s Bonner Scholar Program and civic engagement and leadership. This school year, Lindsey Wilson will have about 50 Bonner scholars, who will work with community partners in Adair, Russell and Taylor counties.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)