Nearly eight years ago, Jean Bradley Derenoncourt was among the citizens of Haiti who endured the 2010 earthquake. Now, the natural disaster survivor made history as the first known Haitian to gain a seat as Councilor in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts.

He became a U.S. Citizen a year ago, and launched his campaign in February of this year. Derenoncourt has been a high achiever of many sorts. He attended and graduated from Massasoit Community College with an Associate’s degree in English and earned his Bachelor’s from Suffolk University.

He expressed an interest in public service early on, serving as an intern in the office of Mayor Linda Balzotti, and took on an intern role in the Constituent Services office for one-time Governor Deval Patrick.

Two years ago, the public servant was honored with the Green Key Award, a honor given in the State of Massachusetts for outstanding civic service.

Derenoncourt was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and grew up in La Gonave, Haiti. He’s 27 years old. Ladies, he is single.

Photo Credit: Dave Demela/The Enterprise