Growing up in El Salvador Eduardo Moreno Mendez never imagined he’d one day be working in the office of some high-profile elected official like U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Mendez, who has lived in Eastie since coming to America at 16, has become a shining example of where determination can get you if you work hard and apply yourself to the task at hand.
It was announced this week that Mendez was appointed by Sen. Lydia Edwards to serve as her Chief of Staff.
“Eduardo is from El Salvador and is a long time East Boston resident,” said Edwards. “Eduardo represents the values and the hard work that many immigrants bring to our country and to our city.”
After arriving in the US, Mendez enrolled in East Boston High School and graduated in 2012.
After graduating EBHS Mendez attended Bunker Hill Community College for four years before transferring to UMass Boston where he received his degree in 2019.
While in college Mendez interned in Sen. Warren’s office and then for former State Sen. Joseph Boncore.
After he graduated college he served in the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash’s office doing research on several issues that affect economic development in the Commonwealth before landing a job as a legislative aide for Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz.
Mendez said he got to know Edwards while interning for Sen. Boncore.
“I obviously knew who she was being my City Councilor,” said Mendez. “But my mentor at the time, Juan Jaramillo, formally introduced us while he was Boncore’s legislative director.”
So when Edwards was elected to replace Bonore, Mendez was on the very short list of candidates to serve as her Chief of Staff.
“This is a great opportunity, because I will get to serve my community as well as the opportunity to be more impactful on the legislative agenda that Sen. Edwards is creating,” said Mendez. “It’s very exciting.”
Mendez said he’s also excited to get to work on housing justice, social justice, environmental justice issues in the district as well as working to help the immigrant community thrive.
“With Sen. Edwards being the Chair of Small Business and Community Development the office will have a bigger impact on small business owners and immigrant business owners impacted by the pandemic,” said Mendez. “Many owners are still desperate and need our help because they are the mom and pop businesses that have been in our communities for so many years.”
In the end, Mendez said he wants to use his role as Chief of Staff as an example of hard work and determination.
“I want to prove to all young people, whether they are from the US or are immigrants, that hard work, passion and dedication will get you far in life,” he said. “I want to just show people that if I can do it they can do it as well.”
Mendez recently became a U.S. Citizen and speaks four languages, English, Spanish, Italian, and French.