Rossy Sierra, undergraduate Sociology and Public Policy 2026, has been chosen to be a 2026 Bonderman fellow.
Each year, a small group of students at the University of Washington are provided a rare opportunity to travel independently as a Bonderman Fellow. The Bonderman Fellowship was created by David Bonderman, a UW alumnus, and has funded and allowed students the opportunity to go on life-changing global journeys, allowing them to engage deeply with peoples and communities across the world.
Rossy's Bonderman journey is rooted in a desire to explore how community is created, protected, and expressed in every day life. As the child of Mexican immigrants, she has experienced how food, music and dance can carry identity across generations.
Her travel locations including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Georgia, Albania, Romani, Costa Rica and Peru. By traveling independently, she hopes to learn who she becomes without relying on familiar support systems while also observing how communities navigate history and policy in subtle lived ways. She is drawn to the quiet acts of resilience that appear in daily life, in shared meals, local traditions, and collective spaces.
The UW Department of Sociology wishes Rossy safe travels as she embarks on her amazing journey.