Bella Gomez

“She is the type of person that embodies service in all that she does. Serving others drives who she is as a friend, a family member, a community member, and a human.” 

The respect and love of the students who nominated Bella Gomez ’26 for the Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award is palpable. In just two years at WashU and in St. Louis, she has made remarkable contributions to the university and to the St. Louis community.  

An undergraduate second-year student, Bella is pursuing a joint degree in Latin American Studies and Global Studies, with a minor in Educational Studies. She is a distinguished scholar in the Danforth Scholars program, and a member of academic honoraries Lock and Chain and Sigma Iota Rho. After her undergraduate work is complete, Bella plans to continue her studies to earn Juris Doctor and Master of Public Health degrees. Her goal is to pursue non-profit leadership and a career in public health and human rights. 

But Bella isn’t content to wait until after college to act on her passion for humanitarian efforts, youth development and human rights. Her nominators say she is an “avid change maker,” and Bella spends her time outside of classes volunteering with local school programming and supporting grant writing work at East Side Aligned and The Thirst Project. She recently started a position as an undergraduate research assistant at the youth development startup “ThinkPlayful,” and joined the 2024 cohort of LeadNext Fellows, with the Asia Foundation, where she will collaborate on finding solutions to global issues. 

She also volunteers with KidsVision for Life, is a mentor with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis, and tutors students in math and language at Jefferson Elementary School. She “volunteers at countless auctions and fundraisers, and is constantly running around lending a helping hand when she can,” according to her nominators. 

As a student in the Philanthropy Lab course, Bella learned about vetting and funding community organizations and their projects, culminating in helping to grant $40,000 to St. Louis nonprofits. She also oversees the budget for Alpha Phi Omega, WashU’s largest service organization of its kind.  

The impact of Bella’s selflessness shines through in the supporting letter that her nominator, Veronica Acosta, and other peer nominators submitted.  

“She is kind, committed, and passionate about making the world a better place,” Acosta wrote. “She is driven and hard-working, and stubborn in the sense that she can never be a part of a community without being a bright light and leaving a positive impact. She is our most selfless friend who dedicates herself to everyone she loves, and everyone she believes is deserving of love.  

“She cares in a way that no one else does. She is always working to become the best version of herself. She deserves this recognition more than any of us as her friends could ever describe.”