Bonnie Brazelton Hill ’74
Distinguished Achievement Award

Bonnie has led her career from humble beginnings to an impressive array of posts in business, government, academia, and philanthropy. She started with Mills in the 1970s as a secretary for the Upward Bound program on campus, where she served as a role model for Mills students of color who applied for work-study jobs there. After graduating with a BA in psychology, she became assistant dean of student services and then director for the Ethnic Studies Department. In 1976 she became the first executive director of the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute, an organization that supports staff and students in the Oakland public schools.

Under the Reagan administration, Bonnie served in the US Postal Rate Commission and the US Department of Education. Under George H. W. Bush, she was appointed special advisor to the president in the US Office of Consumer Affairs where she launched the first national symposium on minority consumer issues and addressed consumer concerns about the privacy and accuracy of computerized information.

In 1991 Governor Pete Wilson of California selected Bonnie to serve in the California State Consumer Services Agency as the first African American woman in a California governor’s cabinet. She later became dean of the Mclntyre School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, one of a handful of women deans in the nation’s business graduate schools at that time.

Bonnie is now president of B. Hill Enterprises LLC, which provides consulting services focusing on corporate governance and public policy issues, and is COO and director of Icon Blue Inc., a company that offers innovative branded merchandise and promotional products to help businesses with marketing, promotional campaigns, and special events. She also serves as honorary chair of the Alumnae of Color Committee Endowed Scholarship in honor of President Alecia DeCoudreaux, Mills’ 13th president.

Bonnie has said, “as a result of much support from friends and family, you can take a little black girl out of the streets of Oakland and find that she can successfully move in diplomatic circles at all levels, including the White House.”

Gerry Wong Ching ’57
Outstanding Volunteer Award

“Vote Right! Vote Wong!” was the campaign slogan that Gerry used to become the first non-white Associated Students of Mills College (ASMC) President in the school’s history. Gerry was active in ASMC activities throughout her Mills career and, when she returned to Hawaii to marry and rear her four daughters, she continued her service to Mills as an active member of the Hawaii Mills Club and as an admissions contact. In the spirit of the “remember who you are and who you represent” slogan, Gerry has advocated for the underprivileged and has quietly challenged gender and racial injustice. In 1968, Gerry was the first Chinese woman invited into the membership of the Junior League of Hawaii, wherein 2017 she was honored for her leadership and service with the league’s most prestigious annual award, the Laura N. Dowsett Award.

For over 30 years, Gerry has served on the distribution committee of the McInerny Foundation along with business leaders and other professionals who value her voice as a community leader. She has also served on a federal judicial selection committee for the State of Hawaii and several boards and commissions. She founded the Waialae Iki Ridge Community Association, organizing and training the zone captains and raising funds for a private security detail for over 600 homes. Gerry’s service with the Garden Club of Honolulu involved many programs, including successful advocacy for landscape improvements for Palama Settlement. In 2016, Gerry and two colleagues were honored by the Catholic Charities of Hawaii as Hawaii’s Volunteer Fundraisers of the Year for their efforts over a 30-year period to raise over $1,000,000 for the Charities’ endowment. Gerry is one of only two non-Catholics to have been recognized with the Charities’ Ulu Award, which symbolizes four core values of dignity, social justice, commitment to excellence, and compassion.

Gerry is a true Mills woman, as exemplified by her decades-long efforts to help truly vulnerable people, improve community connections, and speak to issues that matter in philanthropy. She hasn’t forgotten who she is and what she represents!

Vineetha Mummadi, MBA ’17
Recent Graduate Award

Many students at Mills owe Vineetha a debt of gratitude. During her own studies, she served as a peer tutor for some of the most challenging business courses, including Quantitative Methods and Managerial Accounting. Vineetha embodies what we want to see in our graduates: she makes Mills proud by creating change in her community and serving as a role model and mentor to current students.

While in the MBA program Vineetha worked as a pro-bono consultant at OaklandWORKS Alliance, a local nonprofit that advocates for Oakland’s underrepresented communities in the areas of economics and social and environmental justice. Vineetha is also passionate about providing financial education for women in her home country of India. Her plan for empowering women on the road to financial independence won her a prestigious Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) Award.

Today Vineetha is applying the skills she gained at Mills in her role as a risk management analyst at Bank of the West. She is a good friend of Mills: she became an official liaison for the FWSF program and is generously devoting time to mentoring students through the application process. She continues to engage with the Mills community, attend events, and share job opportunities with students.