OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Ben Bacote

Ben Bacote teaches humanities to high school students and is an activist working for social justice. In his free time, he enjoys taking his kids on outdoor adventures, roller skating, snowboarding, and frequenting his favorite local swimming hole. His favorite thing about NH living is making small-town connections across the state and uncovering connected stories.

Beth Santos

A new writer for 603 Diversity comes with a background in international development, thoughtful community building and social enterprise. Beth Santos, who filed two stories for this issue, set out to change the landscape of travel for women worldwide by creating the first iteration of Wanderful — a travel blog aimed to explore the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. Today, Wanderful has exploded to an international community and social network with the active participation of over 40,000 women and gender-diverse people of all ages and backgrounds.

James McKim

James McKim, who was involved in the original plannng of 603 Diversity and has written essays for past issues, serves as managing partner of Organizational Ignition. He is driven by an intense need to help organizations achieve their peak performance through the alignment of people, business processes and technology. He is recognized as a thought leader in organizational performance, the uses of neuroscience and program management.

Wildolfo Arvelo, Ed.D.

Dr. Wildolfo Arvelo is executive director of Cross Roads House, the second largest homeless shelter in New Hampshire. Prior to Cross Roads House, Arvelo served as director of the Division of Economic Development for New Hampshire. From 2007-2017, he served as president of Great Bay Community College, in Portsmouth. Arvelo has a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Massachusetts/Boston.

Constance Cherise

Constance Cherise is a three-time awardwinning NH Press Association freelancer. Her regular arts/entertainment gigs include assignments for Manchester Ink Link and the Turner Classic Movies Tumblr. For more of her work, visit constancecherise.wixsite.com/ mysite.

Xochiquetzal Berry

Xochiquetzal Berry is the marketing and communications coordinator for Northeast Organic Farming Association NH in Concord. She holds an AOS in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America and a BS in sustainable food and farming from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Xochi is a food systems specialist and certified permaculture designer who, in her 14 years of experience, has worked as a chef, school garden coordinator, permaculture program head and agricultural educator. She is passionate about helping the foodloving folks of New Hampshire develop a resilient, equitable and vibrant regional food system.

Rony Camille

Our regular 603 Diversity cuisine reporter is Rony Camille, a freelance journalist (and son of Haitian immigrants) based in Nashua. A media manager with a focus in digital editorial content and operations, Camille is currently the media program director for the Town of Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.

Robert Ortiz

Primary photographer for 603 Diversity is Robert Ortiz of Robert Ortiz Photography. Ortiz began his photographic career at 15 and has chronicled everything from local weddings and events to the lives of the native peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. He lives in Rochester with his wife and son and 15-year-old daughter, Isabella, who is currently in training as his photo assistant.

Richard Haynes

603 Diversity stories emphasize not only how things are, but how they might or even “ought” to be as we seek out and reveal our state’s diverse communities. When we needed a single image to summarize the mission of this magazine, we went to a man who has long been telling complex stories with bold strokes of color and universal symbols. Artist Richard Haynes provided a selection from his recent work for this purpose. See page 5 for how you can fashionably spread the good words.

Yasamin Safarzadeh

Yasamin Safarzadeh is a native Angelino and current resident of Manchester, NH. She is an artist, advocate, coordinator and educator. She hopes to secure a future for a more diverse young adult population in New Hampshire, in effect securing a more prosperous and effective future. DM her at phat_riot on Instagram