Staff
Bernadette Souza
Executive Director
A New Bedford native and life-long City resident, Bernadette is deeply committed to her community, especially its youth. She is a longtime youth advocate and has significant experience in youth programming by virtue of her long tenure at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Bedford. She is the Executive Director for Youth Opportunities Unlimited and has been for the past thirteen years.
What motivates her the most about being involved in her community is her love for this beautiful city of New Bedford and the SouthCoast area. There are so many resources available and she feels that it is her job to connect the right families, youth and people to these unique resources. Growing up, she was very fortunate to have the right mentors and many moms who kept her on that narrow road and now she feels it is her turn to “pay it forward”. She loves people and helping people. It completes her and gives her a warm feeling in her heart knowing that she has the opportunity on a daily basis to make positive changes in this city.
Bernadette is one of the founding Trustees for Our Sisters’ School and has served on their Board for eight years. She currently serves on their Advisory Board. She is 2nd Vice Chair of the New Bedford Whaling Museum Board and Co-Chair of the Education Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Corporators for BayCoast Bank, a Board Member for One SouthCoast Chamber and serves on the Greater New Bedford Youth Alliance.
Lastly, Bernadette attended Rhode Island College and Assumption College, where she received a Certification in Youth Ministries and is a graduate of the Class of 2013 Leadership SouthCoast. With enormous energy and a deep-seated passion for youth development, Bernadette is a powerful asset to this community, its youth, and their families.
Jasmyn Baird
Marketing and Communications Director
Executive Assistant
Jasmyn is a New Bedford native and helps us tell our Y.O.U. story. Jasmyn has several experience in digital media and project management. She received her Bachelor’s in Marketing from UMass Dartmouth and her Master’s in Media Management from the New School in New York City. Jasmyn is passionate about Youth Opportunities Unlimited because she believes in our model of empowering youth to be themselves and to explore and learn naturally through our experiential programming.
Katie Roberts
Program Operations Director
Katie has recently moved to the New Bedford area and has several years’ experience managing youth program operations. She has a Master’s in Environmental Education from Lesley University and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from Northland College. Katie brings many skills and assets to the team, more specifically her experience of designing, implementing and managing nature-based educational programs. Through her work, she hopes to foster within each child a personal responsibility to take care of themselves, one another, their community, and the earth.
katie@younb.org | (508) 954-6586
Blanca Santiago
Program and Family Outreach Assistant
Blanca joined our team in September 2023 and brings a variety of unique skills to this organization. Born in Manati, Puerto Rico and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Blanca has dedicated herself to making a positive impact in the community. Blanca received her Medical Administrative Assistant Certificate from Burdett College and graduated from the Clemente Course for the Humanities in Spring 2017. She has held over 13 years of office administration experience at Our Sisters’ School in New Bedford. While also obtaining 7+ years in customer service, 5 years in management assistance and 8+ years of child care experience.
Blanca is passionate about Childhood Education, Community Service, advocating for the LGBTQ+ Community, Cooking, Dogs, Family and Friends, and most importantly the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. When she is not with Y.O.U., she successfully runs and operates Petz N’ Comfort, a dog walking and sitting service in Southeastern Massachusetts, and spends quality time with her daughter, Luna!
Abigail Hevey
Development Consultant
Abigail has several years' experience writing grant proposals for a variety of organizations in and around New Bedford. Abigail has a Master's in Professional Writing from UMass Dartmouth, and along with grant writing, has written press releases, supporting documents, website content, social media posts, and more. Abigail is passionate about using her skill set to bring funding to important causes that do great work in the Southcoast so they can grow and increase their impact. When she is not writing grants, she is hanging out with her husband and two small children, or finding time to sneak in some reading.
Bob Nichols
Garden Manager
Bob has been with Youth Opportunities Unlimited a little over four years. He is a jack of all trades and a master of it all. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with a teaching certification for Science and Physical Education from Northeastern University. From there, he began teaching physical education in grades first through sixth while coaching eighth grade football in West Bridgewater. He spent sixteen years with York Steakhouse Systems as the Regional Operations Manager. Bob also has many years under his belt as a restaurant owner in the town of Raynham.
Currently, Bob is enjoying his retirement and spends his time managing and teaching youth how to ski at Sunday River in Maine, volunteering at Sharing the Harvest Farm in Dartmouth, growing oysters in Matapoisett and managing our Victory Park Children’s Garden, here in New Bedford. Bob received his Master Gardeners Certificate six years ago from Bristol Community College and has a huge interest in soil quality to nutrient dense vegetables and how to grow food that’s really good for you!
Bill Trimble
Bike Shop Manager, Beekeeper, Lego Robotics Instructor
Bill is a retired mechanical engineer and former school science teacher. He loves everything about bicycling, riding road and mountain bikes, and bicycle touring. He is a member of the Dartmouth Pathways Committee and biking chair of the Appalachian Mountain Club Southeast Massachusetts Chapter. He is a certified bike mechanic and avid cyclist, who has a mobile bike repair business serving the area.
At Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Bill excels in implementing experiential learning. He runs our Community Bike Shop located on West Rodney French Boulevard. As beekeepers, Bill and his wife Suzy, teach our youth about honeybees and their importance for our food production. Bill explores an introductory component of STEM education by teaching Lego Robotics (Lego Prime) during our youth programming.