A bio box for Mari Gonzalez
Updated: 3 hours ago
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2025 Business Leaders of the Year
Business Leaders of the Year: Gonzalez modernized EBS to serve community above all else
Photo I Courtesy of Matt Wright
Maricelis "Mari" Gonzalez, executive director of El Buen Samaritano
By Laura Finaldi
Giving back is in Mari Gonzalez’s blood. Her parents, Maria and Osiris Reyes, founded El Buen Samaritano in Worcester in 1991, with the purpose of serving those in need. Over the course of her life, her parents served as foster guardians for 20 children.
When her parents came to her and her siblings in 2016 saying they couldn’t continue to run their Worcester nonprofit, Gonzalez knew she couldn’t let the organization she’d seen do so much good disappear. She jumped right in, even though she had no formal nonprofit experience, and leaned on her corporate background and her fashion merchandising and marketing degree to take things to the next level. She rebranded the nonprofit, giving it a website, a social media presence and literally knocking on doors to build relationships with community leaders to further EBS’ mission.
Today, Gonzalez oversees a staff of seven people and 1,000 volunteers. While the organization is known widely as a food bank, it’s more like an all-encompassing community resource center, providing summer food services for children when school is on break, free clothing and hygiene, an after-school program, vaccine clinics and health screenings, and so much more.
EBS had a record-breaking year in 2024, serving 16,783 households, or 29,231 people, up significantly from 17,538 people and 6,253 households in 2018. The nonprofit runs on a budget of about $200,000 per year.
It wasn’t easy to grow EBS to where it is today, Gonzalez said. She ran into opposition even within her own industry: The competition for dollars was fierce. But to Gonzalez, it was never about competing for money with other nonprofits; it was about serving the community. COVID was a turning point for EBS: It was able to stay open when other organizations were closed, which solidified the community’s trust in the organization.
“Everybody was asking for the same money, but I was like, ‘I’m not in the business of money. I’m in the biz of trying to make sure that our community’s needs are met,’” she said. “I’m there for that person who needs those diapers, wipes, and food. So that’s what I started doing, building relationships with the community.”
Tim Garvin, president and CEO of the United Way of Central Massachusetts, said he first met Gonzalez about seven years ago on a project with a student group. She is on the Community Impact Committee at the United Way. Garvin said he was immediately impressed by Gonzalez and her commitment to the community.
“Mari is a bright light. In times of darkness, she shows us the way, and in times of lightness, she’s the joy we need to see. She inspires every single one of us,” he said. “With her warm and loving presence, she embraces and welcomes everyone. It’s magical.”
Gonzalez has a front-row seat to the everyday impacts of macroeconomic events. Inflation, for example, has driven people to EBS; people with full-time jobs come to get food and clothing so they can use their paychecks to keep a roof over their head.
“We see people working two to three jobs, who have to pay their mortgage, rent, or car payments and only have a certain amount of money for food,” she said. “I’d rather have my doors open for those people ... to get food instead of not paying their rent or their mortgage.”
Gonzalez is grateful for the example her parents set, and the work they put in at EBS over the years. She herself is a foster parent and has welcomed about 25 children. She knew what it was like to share her parents with other kids in a loving and caring way.
At the end of the day, Gonzalez knows what her mission is: To serve the community above all else.
“My father said something to me that hit me,” she said. “He said, ‘I don't do the work for recognition, for the accolades, for people to know who we are. I’m doing the work because it’s work I was called to do, making sure our community’s needs are met.’ When you're doing God's work, the door is never closed.”
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