Featured Mentor – Bonnie Peterson

Our first featured mentor is Bonnie Peterson from Google. As a Page Turner Mentor, she has been partnered with her mentee, Lia, for three years. Eva David, the Program Coordinator, shared that Bonnie returned from maternity leave to ensure she spends with Lia who is graduating this year. Eva also highlighted that at the beginning of the year, Lia said if she did not have Bonnie as a mentor, she did not want another mentor. Bonnie and Lia have developed a true and deep bond and Bonnie looks forward to the 45 minutes they share each week.

Bonnie joined the Read Ahead family because she believes that Read Ahead creates a happy and positive association with reading. She decided to be a Read Ahead mentor because she truly believes in our mission and is inspired the tenets of joy, empowerment, and opportunity realized through reading. Reading is a lifetime love that she hopes to instill in her mentee.

One of Bonnie’s favorite stories from her time as a mentor happened when she was on maternity leave. Bonnie shared that “Lia had Eva text me before school let out for summer to tell me she had gone up 2 levels in reading! I was so proud of her, and felt happy that she really wanted to me to know.” We are really inspired by Bonnie and our Read Ahead mentors. On behalf of all of us at Read Ahead, and most importantly, the students we serve, thank you so much for your support and commitment!