Marie Elena is a second-generation Cabo Verdean American born in Milford, CT (she is sister to Stephanie, so shares the same family lineage!). She currently resides in Stratford, CT with her husband Jay and their two daughters, Grace and Ava. ​Marie Elena is employed by the law firm of Robinson & Cole LLP in Stamford, CT as a Corporate Paralegal. She has worked in the financial services industry as a legal professional for over 25 years. Being a huge admirer and supporter of CVU for many years, Marie Elena was thrilled to join the team and travel to Cabo Verde for the first time in 2018 for the playground build in Santiago. She has assisted with all of the builds since and describes each experience as “life-changing and absolutely heartwarming, but with so much more we hope to accomplish". She’s honored to be part of CVU and shares deeply in our vision of all the amazing possibilities we strive to bring forth for Cabo Verde and all its people. ​Marie Elena enjoys hanging out with her family and friends, traveling the world, beautiful beaches, listening to music - especially live, and is an avid sports fan.

Grace is a third-generation Cabo Verdean American with family from São Nicolau and Brava. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Studies from Temple University and has a passion for international affairs and humanitarian efforts. Being involved with CVU since she was young, Grace was thrilled to become an official member in 2024. She is so proud of her Cabo Verdean culture and was grateful to travel to Cabo Verde for the first time with this organization in 2022. In the future, she hopes to speak kriolu fluently so she can embrace the language of her people and communicate better with her family in São Nicolau. In her free time, Grace loves to travel, study languages, spend time with friends and family, play video games, and watch her favorite soccer teams.

Ava is a Marketing graduate from St John’s University who has been part of CVU since she was young. She is the daughter of Marie Elena, sister of Grace Almeida, and niece of Stephanie Ramos. As a huge supporter of CVU for many years, Ava was very enthused to join the team and travel to Cabo Verde for the first time in 2022 for the playground builds in Boa Vista and Sal. In her free time, Ava enjoys traveling, learning about different cultures, music, photography, and helping others. She is very passionate about community-based initiatives and working toward a common goal.

Flavio is a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft and he enjoys teaching, volunteering, and working on projects that will have a big social impact, particularly in Cabo Verde.

Heather is a second generation Cabo Verdean American. Born in New Bedford, MA, Heather relocated to Lynchburg, VA in 1998 to pursue her education. Her mother’s family is from Brava, Cape Verde and father’s family is from Sao Nicolau, Cape Verde. Heather is a wife and mother of two amazing young men, who also works full time as a Care Coordinator for Sentara Healthcare. She is the current facilitator for the Lupus Foundation of America Lynchburg Support Group. Diagnosed in 2014, she has been passionately volunteering to facilitate the organization’s business for the Lynchburg VA area. In addition, Heather holds a Master’s Degree in Human Services Counseling and Criminal Justice which she completed in 2016 at Liberty University. For over 10 years, Heather has worked in the mental health field and has served to better her community especially through the youth so it is no surprise that she has enlarged that territory to now serve the children and people of her ancestry. In June 2022, Heather and her children visited Cape Verde for the first time. She is focused on helping build CVU to it’s greatest potential and identifies greatly with it’s mission and core values.

Solange is half Angolan and half Cabo Verdean. She is passionate about helping others, which is why she decided to study law and join CVU. Through CVU, Solange is able to use her skills to provide help to her community in a meaningful way. She loves the work of CVU and can't wait to see what the future holds.

Ray is a 3rd generation Cape Verdean African-American with ancestry in Brava. Born in New Bedford, Ray served in the United States Air Force before graduating from Southern Illinois University in 1993. He achieved the level of Expert Marksman while in the Air Force and was inducted into the U-Mass Dartmouth Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Responsible for over 1 billion dollars, Ray spent his career in Atlanta, as a Vice President running banking operations for Bank of America, PNC Bank, and GE Capital. Ray returned to New Bedford in 2019 where he served as Vice President of Systems Programming at Century Bank-Boston before retiring in 2023 as Treasurer and Collector for the City of New Bedford. His most recent trip to Cape Verde lit a spark to do more for the people of Cape Verde. Ray Joined CVU in 2024 and currently serves on the Fundraising Committee in addition to Co-Chairing Project Sandbox, which has built playgrounds for children on each of the Cape Verde islands. Ray is a God-fearing man with a passion for helping others. In addition to CVU, hevolunteers at Habitat for Humanity and in his community. He most enjoys politics, boating, vacations with his wife of 25 years and loves golf. Now retired, he looks forward to taking long off-shore trips on his cabin cruiser.

Denise's professional career has been marked by teaching and training others in areas of public service, associations, sanitation, and education. She is passionate about community work and political and cultural life. Denise has been a mentor, coordinator, and trainer for various courses linked to the promotion of tourism on the island of Boa Vista, in addition to being a manager of a secondary school.

Nelson was born in Sal, Cabo Verde and emigrated to the US in 2015. He received his degree from the International High Institute for Tourism – Tangier, Morocco. He received his Master’s Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management from Universidade Jean Piaget de Cabo Verde. Nelson worked for the Cape Verde Tourist Board and for the National Association of Tour Operators (presently Chamber of Tourism). Later in his career, Nelson worked as a Trainer and Consultant for Vocational Training school, working in adult education for more than 20 years. Nelson also worked as an external collaborator for International Labor Organization for Cape Verde, Senegal, Angola and Mozambique. In the US, Nelson has always been involved in community development through several non-profit organizations such as USAL, Friends Community Action, CACD, and now, Cabo Verdeans United. Nelson loves music and he’s passionate about the Cape Verdean traditional game “uril”.

Eddie was born in Minhoto, Brava, Cabo Verde and emigrated to New Bedford, MA in 1956. He attended school in New Bedford before attending and graduating from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. He began a sales career with Procter & Gamble, and later continued a very successful career with IBM and Xerox. Upon his early retirement in 2008, he enjoyed his leisure time staying active in the gym, his yard, and the golf course. ​In December of 2021, he re-entered the workforce at the bakery (Brown Butter Creations) of his two daughters. This entry into entrepreneurship, allowed him to resume and practice his talent for delivering great customer service. In and out of the bakery, he is known as “The Ambassador of Deliciousness”. ​In 2022, Eddie joined Cabo Verdeans United (CVU) where they “Build Smiles One Island at a Time”. Impressed with all of the great work that CVU has done for the children and families of Cabo Verde, Eddie was eager to become a part of the next fund-raising effort to build more playgrounds in his homeland. His excitement blossomed into a fund-raising project that would combine two of his talents: Marketing and Pull-ups. Eddie committed to doing 1,000 pull-ups (chin-ups) in a 30-45 day period in hopes of getting the attention of at least 1,000 people who would donate at least $.03 per pull-up ($30.00). This fundraiser helped enable CVU to build (2) playgrounds in Cabo Verde in Spring of 2023.

Andy was born in Naples, Italy and currently lives in New Rochelle, NY with his wife Gabrielle. Andy has one daughter Jennifer. He worked for many years on cruise ships and emigrated to the US in 1977. He owned four children's shoe stores in the NY/NJ area. Today Andy works at Neiman Marcus where he has been for nearly three decades. ​Andy is an avid supporter of CVU, and has volunteered with the organization for over 15 years. During that period, he has assisted in raising a significant amount of money at the Onset Cape Verdean Festival. Andy took it upon himself to make his refreshing and delicious, home-made, freshly squeezed lemonade and fruit cups, which always sell out at the festival. In 2022, Andy traveled to Cabo Verde with other members of CVU, and was an integral part of the team that built playgrounds in Sal and Boa Vista. Andy's lifelong aspiration is to see a world without conflict, and to see smiles on the faces of the children of Cabo Verde.

Sara grew up working with Cabo Verdeans United helping prep for fundraising festivals from a young age. Her hobbies include baking and running. She is excited to use her skills to work with this amazing team to help better the lives of Cape Verdean people!

Sofia Lomba has been involved with CVU since she participated in her first fundraising festival at 4 years old. She has since assisted in multiple playground builds, donation drives, and fundraising events and campaigns. Sofia is now a college graduate with her degree in Fine Arts and Illustration and she aids CVU's Marketing team by creating promotional and educational content in the form of flyers, cards, vlogs, and social media posts. She is also helping to create merchandise for CVU's soon to come online store. Although Sofia has had a hand in helping CVU's mission for a long time, she officially became a member of the organization in February 2024 and is looking forward to continuing to give back to the country that has given her her culture and family.