People Profiles

Above: (from left) Andrea Peña and Sawyer Garrity Photo by Eduardo Schneider It started with a voice memo last Feb. 17, three days after the deadliest high school shooting in United States history. The chords that Andrea Peña texted her classmate, Sawyer Garrity, seemed to be pouring out of her on that Saturday. Garrity knew

Photography by Eduardo Schneider Manuel Oliver defines himself differently than he did a year ago. For one, he’s gone from artist to “artivist”—that is, he uses his art to create change. You can call him an activist, but he prefers his coined word instead. He’s also well-schooled in politics, something in which he had a

The working title of Marlee Matlin’s February presentation during the Broward College Speaker Series borrows from a children’s book she co-wrote in 2007. But the idea that “Nobody’s Perfect” resonates throughout the causes connected to promoting inclusion for which the Academy Award-winning actress, who lost her hearing at 18 months old, continues to advocate. In

I was born without a physical ear, and no ear canal, on my left side. Over the years, I had surgeries meant to replicate the ear structure. They took cartilage out of my rib cage and sculpted it; then they wrapped it in a nice bow with skin grafts. It took eight surgeries—the first one

Bill Kerdyk Jr. has never been one to keep still. At one point, he was serving as vice mayor of Coral Gables, running his real estate business, heading a golfing business and serving as chairman of the board of the Bank of Coral Gables. Keeping busy in service to others runs in his family. His

With a high prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse, South Florida represents one of the nation’s areas of unmet need. No one knows this better than John W. Newcomer, a psychiatrist who has dedicated the past 30 years to studying mental illness and substance abuse.  For more than 20 years, the Pinecrest resident worked

Cynthia Kohanek, a Pinecrest Elementary School music teacher, remembers Camila Cabello like it was yesterday. Cabello, a Cuban-American singer-songwriter and a former member of the pop group Fifth Harmony, was one of Kohanek’s star choral students. She also was named best new artist at the 2018 American Music Awards. Then there’s Ashley Levin, a contestant

When Chelsea Wilkerson, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, is asked to tell a story about one of the 300 troops served by the council—one of seven in Florida—she can’t pick just one. It’s understandable, given that Wilkerson has witnessed the 3,500 girl members and 2,000 adult members change their communities and

For the record, Sally Kohn does not claim to be perfect. She has no interest in being chief of the hate police. And despite the playful jabs she takes at Kenny G in her book, The Opposite of Hate, she has nothing against him personally. (She just isn’t a fan of his music.) But after

With music blaring, a group of seven women move in tandem across a dance room inside the Pinecrest Community Center. Up front, instructor Kathy Gurdjian showcases choreography for a new line dance, which the women will perform later this year. “Line dancing is so much more than country-western,” Gurdjian says. “All you need is music

Photo by Leah Wharton Pablo Cartaya spent much of his life living in the middle. Born in Miami to Cuban parents and rasied in New York, Cartaya felt “straddled between two identities.” “I spent years of my childhood wishing my hair was blonde and my eyes were blue and that my skin didn’t tan so

Scotty Leamon is the public safety information officer for the Coconut Creek Police Department. The Coconut Creek police department employs more than a dozen veterans, including Creek native Scott Hysell, an officer who served in the Army from 2011 to 2014. While he was stationed in Afghanistan, a 250-pound homemade explosive device went off underneath