Faces of New Bedford

Meet Ian Abreu, 31-year-old City Councilor At-Large and Manager of Public Policy and Business Development with the Chamber of Commerce. Growing up in the south end of New Bedford with his family, Ian has immense love for the city he was raised in. Watching his mother run for a councilor …

Meet Shonna Ryan, 29-year-old instructional technologist and founder of non-profit organization Civic Support. Shonna moved to the area when she started attending the University of Massachusetts, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication. Shonna currently works at Providence College, where she is an Instructional Technologist. This position focuses on …

Meet Jamie Casey, a 42-year-old ministry leader and property manager. Now life for Jamie hasn’t always been living to serve others and make a difference, in fact it was very destructive for many years. At an early age he was focused on money, having “fun” and self fulfillment, while indulging …

Meet Joseph Cordeiro, 52-year-old New Bedford Police chief. Joseph moved to New Bedford with his family from St. Michael, Portugal when he was only 2 years old. He never considered becoming a police officer growing up, but when he was 19, he owned his own sports supply store and worked …

Meet Adam Davenport, 29-year-old business owner and environmental designer. Adam was born and raised in the area and after high school went to the University of New Hampshire, where he majored in civil engineering. It was during this time that he really became passionate about sustainability, pushing him to take …

Meet Dena Haden, 34-year-old Co-founder/Co-Owner of Groundwork and artist. Dena had always been interested in art as she used it to communicate from an early age. As she got older and realized her passion, she decided to pursue it in college. Attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, she double majored …

Meet Edwin Cartagena, 31-year-old Community & Family Engagement Coordinator at City on a Hill Charter School and President of United New Bedford. Edwin was born and raised in Brockton, MA until the age of 9. During that time, both of his parents were struggling with addiction, while he and his …

Meet Richard Gormley, 40-year-old Photographer and Graphic Designer. Rick and his family moved to the area from Cincinnati when he was eight. Raised on a diet of Activision and Hana-Barbara cartoons he would eventually graduate from Dartmouth High and get a degree in Film and Video from Michigan. From there …

Meet Bienvenido “Ben” Perez, 26-year-old Lawyer. Bienvenido was born and raised in New Bedford by his mother and father. He first thought of getting involved with law at the early age of 11, when his family was evicted from their home and faced homelessness. Because his family made just above …

Meet Alison Wells, 44-year-old Artist and College professor. Alison grew up on the island of Trinidad, where from a very early age she knew that she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. One day in class, a teacher embarrassed her for her grandeur ideas and told her …