What will 2022 bring?
There are things we know: The world will continue to contend with the coronavirus pandemic, which will enter its third year.
An election will determine control of Congress, and housing, development, jobs, crime, education, politics and social justice issues will frame local discussion and debate.
We asked members of the Telegram & Gazette news staff to share short profiles of people they’ll be watching in 2022.
Most of them are not household names today, but we think they could be key players in the year ahead and beyond.
Grace Nyamekye
Age: 17
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Senior, South High Community School
“Shock” is the word Grace Nyamekye uttered when told she is one of 22 locals the T&G is spotlighting for this story.
Humble might be a more appropriate word, because Nyamekye deserves recognition.
The South High senior plans to study biochemistry in college, and has her sights set on becoming a pediatric surgeon.
When she’s not hitting the books, Nyamekye is captain of the South High cheerleading team and gives back to the community.
For the past three summers, Nyamekye volunteered at Recreation Worcester, where she worked with low-income children in a summer camp.
Nyamekye is a perfect fit to be in this group of 22 honorees, because she represents the promise of every Worcester high school senior as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
“I’m glad to represent our school system,” she said.
Johnhaynes Honeycutt
Age: 26
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Founder and CEO, The Hop Agency/Honeycutt One Productions
As an actor, poet, jazz musician and author, Johnhaynes Honeycutt of Worcester has already made a lot of connections at 26. As an entrepreneur, he is endeavoring to put those connections to use.
With his company The Hop Agency, the parent division of Honeycutt One Productions (which produces its own material), he is seeking to connect independent and upcoming musicians and entertainers in the Worcester area to top industry leaders and entertainment events.
“We currently have relationships with the top record labels, sports/talent agencies, entertainment organizations and A&R’s in the business and provide direct industry access to underserved communities,” Honeycutt said. “The HOP Agency takes musicians, actors, sports figures and influencers to the next level.”
Honeycutt was recently named to the Development Committee of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, part of the Grammy Organization. He said Worcester could be pipeline to the Grammy organization, which holds a number of events.
Amber Tortorelli
Age: 32
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Multidisciplinary artist
Amber Tortorelli, who often works under the nome d’arte AmberRose ToiletFire Tortorelli, possesses a wildfire creativity that leads her to create some of the region’s most exciting and challenging work.
Perhaps best known for performing with the punk band Sapling, Tortorelli is also a bold visual artist whose work often approaches the point of discomfort. There’s a temptation to separate rock ‘n’ roll from fine arts when an artist is involved in both, but that’s a mistake, because it’s clear that her visual arts are highly influenced by, among other influences, a rock aesthetic.
Tortorelli’s projects have included self-designed tarot cards and a visually evocative photographic calendar. Her work has brought vivid takes on the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” deep dives into feminist interpretations of fairy tales, and wild motifs of roses, clocks and blood, and with each new piece, there’s a sense she’s nowhere near her full potential.
Achara (Fawn) Weydt
Age: 43
Hometown: Boylston
Position: Owner of six Thai restaurants in Central Massachusetts
Fawn Weydt is a fearless woman who, at 22, moved to the United States from Songkhla, Thailand. While she never planned to open a restaurant, she helped a friend open a Thai eatery and used what she learned, with financial support and hands-on help from her mother, to open her own place in Pascoag, Rhode Island. She opened a second restaurant in Clinton and later sold both.
Since then, with her niece and other team members, she’s grown her portfolio of restaurants and owns Thai Time and Rice Violet, both in Worcester, Brown Rice Thai Cuisine and Brown Rice 2, both in West Boylston, and Thai and I in Shrewsbury. She plans to open a new restaurant in Holden soon.
Wedyt opened Brown Rice 2 during the pandemic and said she isn’t afraid of opening another restaurant as the pandemic continues. She said in 2019, she was “old school” and rarely used social media but now she talks about “blasting ads on Facebook” and using “third party platforms” for delivery. Those things helped her weather the pandemic.
“You have to be adaptable,” she said
Jermaine Johnson
Age: 48
Hometown: Worcester
Position: School Committee member-elect; area resource coordinator at the state Department of Children and Families
A lifelong resident of Worcester, Jermaine Johnson will be the first Black male Worcester School Committee member when he is sworn in Jan. 3. Johnson not only managed to get elected in his first bid for the committee, he also secured the most votes in the election.
For over two decades, Johnson has worked with kids as a counselor and social worker. He is currently the area resource coordinator at the state Department of Children and Families, serves as the chief steward at the Service Employees International Union Local 509, and also coaches youth baseball and basketball in Worcester.
Johnson plans to push for social and emotional support as a committee member, as well as help students get hands-on professional experience by partnering with local businesses and organizations.
In his free time, Johnson has taken up gardening as a hobby, growing vegetables like peppers, eggplant and cabbage.
Brian Abraham
Age: 36
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Boston Red Sox director of player development
Worcester is a special place for Brian Abraham. He was raised in the city, graduated from St. John’s High in Shrewsbury in 2003, and Holy Cross in 2007. He played baseball in high school and college and was thrilled when the Red Sox relocated their Triple-A affiliate to the Canal District.
He’s entering his 10th season in the Red Sox organization and second in his current role. Since one of his priorities is to help rebuild Boston’s minor league system, Abraham spends countless hours at Polar Park.
He understands the love and passion WooSox fans have for baseball and the deep roots of the game in the city. Even though he now lives in Framingham, he credits his upbringing in Worcester that helped mold his love for baseball and this city.
Abraham is one reason the WooSox enjoyed a successful inaugural season in 2021, and his goal is to continue that well into the future.
Anh Vu Sawyer
Age: 68
Hometown: Vietnam, now Boston
Position: Executive director of Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts
Anh Vu Sawyer is a Vietnamese refugee and executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts in Worcester.
And preserving what’s left of her homeland’s culture and heritage is a top priority.
That’s why Sawyer is committed to holding the group’s 19th annual Asian Festival in-person in 2022 after holding virtual events the past two years because of the pandemic.
The festival — with a focus on Southeast Asian arts, culture, music, food and history — will be held noon to 5 p.m. June 26 at Worcester State University, and include more than 20 authentic performances.
“This much-loved event for the whole family drew 3,000 people every year,” Sawyer said. “It’s really a wonderful event that has brought the whole community together.”
Kaska Yawo
Age: 49
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Co-founder and executive director, African Community Education
Understandably, as the African-born population continues to grow in Worcester, so does African Community Education, the educational, cultural and community-building nonprofit Kaska Yawo co-founded with Dr. Olga Valdman, then a UMass Medical School student, in 2006.
ACE quickly grew into a hub for the local African community and is poised to take a major step forward in 2022 with the purchase of the building at 51 Gage St. from Learning First Charter Public School.
Yawo, a Liberian refugee, said that for 15 years the organization has been “going here and there” for space. The new building will bring stability and allow for expansion of programs.
“Acquiring this building will be a breakthrough for the organization, but also for the community as a whole, and immigrant populations who come to Worcester,” Yawo said. “I think it’s a good thing.”
Alec Lindstrom
Age: 23
Hometown: Dudley
Position: Boston College graduate and star center/NFL Draft prospect
Lindstrom, the former Shepherd Hill Regional standout, recently completed his outstanding career at Boston College by garnering second-team All-America honors and becoming the first BC player to be a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, awarded to the top center in college football.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 298-pound Lindstrom had the No. 3 pass blocking grade in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2022, Lindstrom will join his brother, Chris, in the NFL.
Lindstrom currently projects as a third- or fourth-round pick in April’s NFL Draft. ESPN draft guru Todd McShay rates Lindstrom as the No. 5 center. Chris, who also starred at BC, was a first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2019. Chris is the Falcons’ starting right guard.
Lindstrom graduated from Boston College in December 2020, but returned for a fifth season to get better, stronger and more experience. For the second straight season, he was the ACC’s top center.
Stephanie A. Williams
Hometown: Worcester
Position: City of Worcester’s chief diversity officer
As the city’s new chief diversity officer who started on Nov. 30, 2020, when thinking about 2022 priorities, Stephanie A. Williams is focusing on how the city can better disrupt racial oppression from a structural perspective.
“Although this is going to take time, the urgency doesn’t end and we don’t want to take our foot off the gas because it’s an important piece of work as a municipality,” she said.
Williams has joined the city manager’s executive cabinet as leader of the newly created executive office of diversity and inclusion. She reports directly to City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr., and develops programs that promote diversity within the city’s workforce.
Williams asks people to think about one or two things that they can do personally when it comes to race, equity and inclusion. The city manager’s executive order also asks them to think and make a real commitment to it.
Williams is also thinking about the importance of permanently prioritizing a culture of equity.
Atuhaire ‘Atu’ Ambala
Age: 20
Hometown: Uganda
Position: Freshman on the Clark University swim and dive team, represented Uganda at the Tokyo Olympics 2020
At 20, Atuhaire “Atu” Ambala has achieved a childhood dream — representing his country, Uganda, at the Olympics.
He overcame many challenges, made harder by the pandemic, to get to Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics, and describes it as a surreal, amazing experience, and an honor.
Now a freshman at Clark University, he’s balancing his swimming training and athletic aspirations. He will be braving the waters for his university at the competitive NEWMAC in February and hopes to qualify for the NCAA Division 3 championships in March.
He says he’s been learning more about himself and progressing as he adjusts to life as a Worcesterite, navigating the pressures, choosing a major, living far away from family.
His faith and dedication carry Atu through it all, and he’s determined to work hard, looking at every opportunity as a gift in his path to success.
Frank Pupillo
Age: 56
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Singer for Shot of Poison (Poison tribute band), co-owner of Rascals (70 James St.) and owner of Octo Rock Cinema Productions.
Frank Pupillo, the singer and frontman for the Poison tribute band Shot of Poison, expects 2022 to be a great year. In fact, the Burncoat High School grad expects it to be his tribute band’s best year yet.
After competition on E! Network’s “Clash of the Cover Bands” earlier in December, Bret Michaels of the multiplatinum-selling 1980s glam metal band Poison gave a personal invite to Shot of Poison to join him onstage during a live concert in the coming year.
“There’s not a lot of Poison tribute bands out there,” Pupillo said. “There is one is Australia that is pretty good. But we can probably come really close to saying we are the best tribute band to Poison on the planet.”
In addition to the Bret Michaels’ invite, Pupillo said the four-year-old tribute band is fielding plenty of offers and already booking a lot of big gigs in 2022, including the Spencer Fair, Indian Ranch in Webster, the Cabot Theatre in Beverly, the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey, and The Egg (Hart Theatre) in Albany, New York.
Pupillo, who is the co-owner of Rascals bar and nightclub, said he also expects big things for his club.
“We’ve been climbing back gradually,” he said. “We’ve had some huge crowds, which is great, but COVID definitely has made people apprehensive. I think that there is still a good 20 to 30% slowdown in business from people who don’t want to go out in COVID.”
And, if that wasn’t enough for Pupillo, in June he is “marrying the girl of his dreams,” whom he met at a Shot of Poison show.
Jermoh Kamara
Age: 28
Hometown: Liberia, now Worcester
Position: School Committee member-elect; director of wellness and health equity at the YWCA; adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Jermoh Kamara and her family fled war-torn Liberia when she was 11, seeking refuge in Worcester. A graduate of Worcester public schools and Providence College, Kamara is now the director of wellness at the YWCA as well as an adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Kamara will be the first African-born member of the School Committee when she is sworn in Jan. 3. During her campaign, she touted her five-point plan, a list of tasks and goals she hopes to accomplish during her first term on the committee.
Kamara will look to her experience in public health when working as a committee member. She also pointed to her time abroad, which showed her that Worcester has the tools in place to succeed.
Kamara hopes to enhance technology assets for all students, and expand STEAM and vocational programs. Kamara also enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures, as well as fashion and giving back to the community.
Derrick Kiser
Age: 49
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Founder, Fresh Start 508
Derrick Kiser co-founded the city’s first gang in the mid-1980s. Decades later, he’s trying to dissuade kids from that life by bringing mental health into sharper focus.
Kiser runs a nonprofit aimed at tackling youth violence. A licensed social worker, he tailors programming around addressing trauma he believes leads kids to make poor decisions.
He is also pushing trauma awareness in law enforcement, arguing the stress of the job can lead to worse outcomes for officers and those they police.
“We need to build bridges,” said Kiser, who sees mental health as a unifying theme.
Kiser has been gaining support from several key figures in local law enforcement. The county DA and sheriff praised his work at a recent event in which a judge remarked he expects Kiser to be “part of the plan” to reform the criminal justice system moving forward.
Kiser told the Telegram & Gazette he’ll be focusing this year on increasing funding for his organization and getting his message out, particularly in schools.
Abbie Cotto
Age: 31
Hometown: Worcester
Position: R&B artist
After a long stretch of not performing in Worcester, Abbie Cotto made a few pretty splashy live local appearances in 2021, including a benefit for the Bridge Academy, and opening for Joyner Lucas at the Palladium, all of which seems to have only whetted his fans’ appetite for more.
Perhaps nothing sums up Cotto’s strengths more than his steamy 2021 single, “My Baby,” which illustrated his ability to create a sense of heat, and by his subsequent single, “Wrong,” which displays a sort of wounded tenderness.
His work can be evocative, to be certain, even to the point of being raunchy, but make no mistake: Cotto demonstrates an immense amount of control over his sound, and the emotions it evokes.
He’s capable of creating moments of musical intimacy that are deeply affecting, and he has the performance chops to sell them, setting a course for big things on the horizon.
Etel Haxhiaj
Age: 41
Hometown: Worcester
Position: District 5 city councilor-elect; director of public education and advocacy, Central Mass. Housing Alliance
Etel Haxhiaj’s victory in the District 5 City Council race comes after a previously unsuccessful bid for an at-large seat in 2019, and showed her to be one of the most persistent campaigners in 2021.
An Albanian refugee who arrived in Worcester in 2001 and completed both undergraduate and graduate studies at Clark University, Haxhiaj will be the first Albanian refugee and first Muslim to be elected to the City Council in Worcester.
Along with her work in the Central Mass. Housing Alliance, Haxhiaj has been involved in several groups throughout the city, including Mothers Out Front, the Zero Fare WRTA Coalition and the YWCA.
Even before her swearing in to City Council, where Haxhiaj is expected to bolster the more progressive side of the council, Haxhiaj has been vocal in pushing for an extension to the fare-free WRTA and in opposing the addition of a gas station, convenience store and car wash to Park Avenue.
Aliyah Boston
Age: 20
Hometown: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (Worcester Academy Class of 2019)
Position: University of South Carolina women’s basketball, junior All-America center
When No. 1 vs. No. 2 squared off in November, Boston dominated UConn to the tune of 22 points and 15 rebounds in top-ranked South Carolina’s 73-57 victory.
Through her sophomore year at South Carolina, Boston already had been twice named Lisa Leslie Center of the Year and Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, collected consensus All-America first-team honors and even gained National Player of the Year distinction from The Athletic, while leading the Gamecocks to the NCAA Final Four.
So what else may be ahead for the 6-foot-5-inch center, who just in 2019 shined as a Hilltopper?
By this season’s end, Boston, a double-double machine through the first semester, could be the nation’s consensus Player of the Year, NCAA champion, and, if she chooses to enter this year, the No. 1 selection in the WNBA Draft. By 2024, she could very well be an Olympian playing in Paris.
Thu Nguyen
Age: 30
Hometown: Worcester
Position: At-large City Councilor-elect; director of the Southeast Asian Coalition
Achieving the impressive feat of being elected to an at-large council seat on their first run at a relatively young age and being one of last year’s largest fundraisers, Thu Nguyen will be one of two new additions to the City Council.
Nguyen will be the first nonbinary city councilor in Worcester history, using the pronouns they, theirs and them. They will also be the first Southeast Asian American to serve on the council. Along with Haxhiaj, Nguyen’s election has supporters hopeful for a City Council that will better reflect the growing diversity of the city.
Having immigrated from Vietnam as a child, Nguyen grew up in Main South and attended Clark University. A community organizer with the Southeast Asian Coalition and Mutual Aid Worcester, Nguyen said they hoped to shift what was possible in city government.
Carolyn J. Stempler
Age: 60
Hometown: Shrewsbury
Position: CEO, Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Carolyn J. Stempler’s four-year term as chair of the board of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation came to a halt following CEO Barbara Fields’ resignation in March. Stempler was appointed interim CEO of the foundation and remains in that position going into 2022.
After moving to Worcester County from Dallas in 2007, Stempler quickly became involved in the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and became chair of the board in 2019.
She will be responsible for shepherding the foundation through an ongoing pandemic and assessing what the need will be in the area after a potential end to the pandemic.
Some of her actions as CEO include donating a van for use by the city of Worcester for mobile vaccine clinics in the city’s ongoing COVID-19 vaccine campaign. Stempler also owns Carolyn & June designs, Inc. in Shrewsbury.
Louie Gonz
Age: 36
Hometown: Worcester
Position: Hip-hop artist
Louie Gonz made a big impression with his 2019 album, “Final Strike,” and in the time since, he’s tantalized local hip-hop fans by dropping singles and videos such as the exhilarating “Killer” and the soulful “Drift Away.”
Now, Gonz is set to drop what looks like will be Worcester’s first great album of 2022, “King 3 Presents: The Gathering,” a collaboration with his production partner, William Hurt. As an artist, Gonz often rides the line between a harder-edged sound and a sense of openness and vulnerability that lets the listener inside.
A song like “Killer,” for instance, digs deep into the idea of gun violence on multiple levels: From gang violence, to the perspective of a father wanting to protect his family, to the cavalier vapidity of politicians “wanting to wear the gat.”
In an enormously talented local hip-hop scene, Gonz seems well-poised to spring to a larger profile.
Mary Gibbons
Age: 16
Hometown: Holden
Position: Wachusett Regional High School basketball player
There’s a shooting star streaking across the Central Massachusetts horizon, and the good news is it’s in no danger of fading anytime soon.
Mary Gibbons, a 5-foot-6-inch sophomore guard for the perennially powerful Mountaineers, is in the early stages of what promises to be a sparkling career due to her desire and determination to sharpen and expand her skills and smarts.
“Shooting is kind of my thing, my 3-point shot,” said Gibbons, who scored a career-best 27 points in a season-opening win after being the only freshman to make the T&G Super Team last season. “But I definitely want to get out of my comfort zone and take up the ball more, be a point guard, be a leader on the team, take it to the basket and draw those fouls. Be more than just a shooter.”
Gibbons, a straight A+ student and basketball blueblood — her dad, Tom, for instance, is the Wachusett boys’ coach — is already well versed in court camaraderie.
“That team bonding and friendship we have with each other is really important to me and I think that helps us succeed,” she said. “We work really well together. We have that energy and we love spending time together.”
Jason L. Homer
Position: Executive director of Worcester Public Library
Jason Homer took the helm of the Worcester Public Library in December 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a $13 million renovation to the main library at 3 Salem Square.
Homer was named the library’s first executive director, rather than head librarian, reflecting the complexity and broader scope of duties involved in overseeing seven branches, two mobile libraries and a multitude of services and programs.
In August, as the main library prepared for a ribbon-cutting for the renovation project, Homer commented on the new features and the library’s renewed mission.
“We want everyone in our community to understand that there is something for them here at WPL,” Homer said. “We hear some people say they don’t use their local library, but they may be unaware of all we have to offer.
“Sure we have books, but you can also attend fun programs and informative classes, get résumé and job search assistance, learn to use a 3-D printer, record a podcast, do genealogy research, download audiobooks, borrow a hot spot or a sewing machine, and so much more. Our new motto is ‘You Belong Here’ because we want everyone to come to the Worcester Public Library to see what we have to offer.”
