The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) will honor Bishop Cristiano Barbosa, the first Brazilian-born bishop in the US, with the MAPS 2025 Person of the Year Award at the organization’s April 12, 2025, fundraising gala at the Boston Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, MA. Edilia Gomes, a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at the Healing Hearts Care Center, LLC, will be honored with the Lifetime Community Service Award, and Michael Carreiro, founder and CEO of Auxzillium IT Services and Solutions, will receive the Outstanding Business Award.
Bishop Barbosa earned the recognition thanks to his important and inspirational leadership as a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston and his recent appointment to Bishop earlier this year – a huge source of pride for the Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts. Born in Adamantina, Brazil, he was ordained to the priesthood in Brazil in December of 2007 and incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in 2021. Since then, he has served in several parishes, including Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Francis of Assisi in Cambridge, and the Holy Family, Holy Trinity, Immaculate Conception, and Saint Anthony of Padua parishes in Lowell. In February of 2024, he was ordained to the episcopacy by Cardinal Seán O’Malley, becoming the first Brazilian-born Bishop in the US.
“Bishop Barbosa is a wonderful friend of MAPS and an inspirational leader in our communities who has brought together Brazilians, Portuguese, Cape Verdeans, and others through his compassionate service and kindness,” said MAPS CEO Paulo Pinto, MPA. “We are very excited and looking forward to celebrating his historic and inspirational leadership.”
Cape Verdean American Edilia Gomes is being honored with the MAPS Mary & Manuel Rogers Lifetime Community Service Award in recognition of her passionate, career-long commitment to providing mental health services to the Portuguese-speaking community. She has made a profound impact in demystifying mental health support and treatment, lowering the culturally-rooted barriers to such services, especially during her years at the Cambridge Health Alliance, and now at the Healing Hearts Care Center in Melrose.
“Edilia’s decades-long commitment to providing culturally appropriate mental health support to vulnerable and underserved populations, including Portuguese-speaking immigrants from Cape Verde, Brazil, and Portugal, is truly inspirational,” said Pinto. “She continues to play a crucial role in ensuring that our communities have equitable access to mental health care, and we are proud to honor her for her decades of service to our communities.”
Michael Carreiro will receive the MAPS Álvaro Lima Outstanding Business Award as a tribute to his exceptional leadership as founder and CEO of Auxzillium IT Services & Solutions and his continued support of MAPS and other philanthropic causes in the community. The Portuguese American CEO founded the highly successful provider of IT services almost 25 years ago and has since built a company committed to being present for others, giving back to the community, and fostering a collaborative, close-knit work environment.
“Michael truly embodies what it means to be a socially-conscious business leader,” said Pinto. “We are proud and grateful for our longstanding partnership with Auxzillium and couldn’t be happier to present this award just a few weeks after the company he built celebrates its 25th anniversary.”
The Annual Awards Gala is MAPS’ main fundraiser and supports the organization’s many free health and social services. To learn more about 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.