Change Her Future

Dear Wonderful People,

Western started out with nothing and overcame incredible emotional and family challenges to go on to be someone who amazes us all. From growing up with abuse, living out of tents, and walking miles to get library books to choosing at age 9 to live with another family so she could receive an education to surviving stage 3 cancer and years of financial hardship, Western has remained resilient and undaunted. Now she wants to attend MIT where she can put all of her life's experience and compassion to use and we hope, finally position herself to be able to thrive financially. We are asking any and all who can, to donate what you can. Western is a bright spark, passionate, kind to all, and a beautiful illustrator.   She loves dogs, humans, making gifts for friends, singing and cooking when she has time. 

As she puts it, five things have saved her life: the generosity and kindness of strangers, the willingness to work hard, courage, creativity and humor.  Once again, she is relying on the kindness of strangers.

She is also offering the gift of of her fashion illustrations and other works as a way to say thank you for your support. Click this link to download. Please email  [email redacted] if you have any issues. 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tUwsGjqWdsssUSX-HuNoROFbfWqxtfS-

Her tuition, room, board, living expenses and materials for the MS in integrated design and management at MIT is a two year program that will cost 160,000. Thanks to an amazing friend, and student loans and a tiny bit of support from other areas, she has all but 10K of this Fall semester covered and is hoping  to land Teacher’s Assistant and Research Assistant positions and fellow ships to cover the Spring semester and the following year.  The program does not provide aid or scholarships.  Bless you for whatever you can donate. 

NOTE from WESTERN
I now embark on this exciting path at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Already I can see how many amazing opportunities this will bring to bring a voice to the voiceless with this degree. Without realizing it, I have been on a path towards MIT all my life: first with fashion design and the desire to inspire people through the magic of clothes which led to teaching and starting a fashion STEAMD education school for kids. I have always come alive supporting people to reach for their dreams and discover how beauty inspires the best in all of us.  MIT's Design Management (IDM) Masters Program  brings together designers, engineers and entrepreneurs. In this era of supporting women, MIT, will give me the skills and connections to build on my experience, support myself, realize my dream of being a leader and visionary and help others. 



Fighting cancer, showed me that advocating for oneself as a patient can mean the difference between life and death. In an effort to help other's advocate for themselves, I began speaking at American Cancer Society events, launched a tee shirt business and became a voice for Obamacare in Covered California Commercials. 


My thirst for learning is something I love sharing and my experiences in fashion showed me what a powerful tool it could be for exciting students to learn, so in 2013 I started a fashion STEAMD Summer program for kids in Marin. Every Summer for 4 years, hundreds of children between the ages of 8-18 played with a limitless supply of craft materials and fabrics and learned to express themselves. 

Photo: Mira - an app that lets women struggling with fertility test their hormones at home. Read the article here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/westernbonime/2018/09/08/miras-biotechnology-brings-hope-for-fertility-and-menopause/#bed00af480df 

The amazing opportunity of writing for Forbes as a guest contributor changed my life. Speaking to inspiring leaders and seeing companies make a difference, showed me where I belonged and gave me the confidence to pursue the dream of MIT. 

The first time I saw someone's face light up with success, I was hooked on teaching. Since then, I've taught at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for seven years and at Parsons School of Design in New York. My challenges as an artist/entrepreneur have inspired me to add life skills and career training to my classes so that design students  have the skills they need build successful careers. 

Photo: Design Process. As designers we are moved by stories and meaning and attempt to bring those to life through color, shape, texture.