Bonnie
St. John

Biography

Bonnie knows a lot about achieving success against incredible odds.

Despite having her right leg amputated at age five, she became the first African-American to win medals in Winter Olympic competition, taking home a silver and two bronze medals at the 1984 Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria. In recognition of this historic achievement, Bonnie was quoted on millions of Starbucks coffee cups and was honored by President George W. Bush at a White House celebration of Black History Month. 

Bonnie graduated with honors from Harvard, won a Rhodes Scholarship, earned numerous sales awards at IBM, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton as a director of the White House National Economic Council. President Obama named her to represent the US in delegations to both the Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver and the Summer Paralympics in Rio. She also holds several honorary doctorate degrees and was recently lauded with her portrait in the main hall of Trinity College, Oxford as a distinguished alumna.