The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) invites community members to attend its 2025 Awards Gala, scheduled for Saturday, April 12, at the Boston Marriott Hotel in Cambridge. MAPS is planning a glamorous celebration for over 400 community members, business leaders, public officials, and supporters to raise crucial funds to sustain the nonprofit health and social services organization’s mission and honor three outstanding leaders who have contributed significantly to the betterment of the lives of Portuguese-speaking community members and others in Massachusetts.
Funds raised at the event through sponsorships, advertisements, auction bids, donations, and reservations support the organization’s critical work in removing barriers to health, education, and social services for thousands of underserved Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Portuguese, and other communities in Greater Boston, Greater Lowell, MetroWest, and beyond through direct services, advocacy, leadership, and community development.
At a time when many nonprofit organizations are facing potential budget cuts, fundraising support at this year’s Gala is more critical than ever to ensure the short and long-term stability of the organization and its ability to support the community through a large array of programs, including immigrant integration, elder services and the Senior Center in Cambridge, support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, HIV/STI prevention and testing, mental health support, child and family clinical support, and much more.
“Our annual gala is a great opportunity to celebrate the success of our communities and our organization’s achievements, together with our many friends and supporters”, said Paulo Pinto, MPA, MAPS Chief Executive Officer. “Our immigrant communities are facing challenging times, and we are especially grateful to once again rely on the generous support of our presenting Diamond sponsors, the Dunkin’ franchise owners, Couto, Cafua, and Serpa families.”
The MAPS Awards Gala is also supported by Emerald sponsors Joe & Dorothy Chaves Foundation, Naveo Credit Union, and Zorean Inc.; Gold sponsors Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Eastern Bank; Silver sponsors Auxzillium IT Services & Solutions, East Cambridge Savings Bank, Fish Family Foundation, Globo Travel Tours with Copa Airlines, J&F Construction, and MetalStone Technologies; and Bronze sponsors Advisors Living, Amigos da Terça, Archdiocese of Boston, Cambridge Printing Company, Coelho Realty Group, Greater Lowell Community Foundation, M.S. Walker, S&F Concrete and Tufts Health Plan.
Reservations for the Gala are now available online, and businesses and organizations can contribute to this special event by becoming sponsors, advertising on the Gala Program Book and Community Directory, or donating items and experiences for the auction. To learn more about reservations and sponsorship and advertising opportunities, please visit maps-inc.org/gala2025 or contact Elena Joy, MAPS Development and Communications Manager, at ejoy@maps-inc.org, or by calling 617-864-7600.
The MAPS Awards Gala is a festive evening punctuated with entertainment from the Portuguese-speaking world and includes a red-carpet arrival, cocktail hour, ballroom banquet, live music, online silent auction, dancing, and more.
This year’s event will honor Cabo-Verdean American Edilia Gomes, a psychiatric nurse practitioner & founder of the Healing Hearts Care Center with the Mary & Manuel Rogers Lifetime Community Service Award; Portuguese-American Michael Carreiro, founder and CEO of Auxzillium IT Services and Solutions with the Álvaro Lima Outstanding Business Award; and Brazilian-American Bishop Cristiano Barbosa as the MAPS 2025 Person of the Year.
MAPS served a record of nearly 28,000 people in fiscal year 2024. The organization’s mission is to improve the lives of Portuguese-speaking individuals and families from Massachusetts and help them become contributing, active participants in American society while maintaining a strong ethnic identity and a sense of community.