Gisele Barreto Fetterman

Gisele Barreto Fetterman was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] When she was seven years old, Fetterman came to the United States as an undocumented child immigrant with her mother and younger brother, taking up residence in a one-room apartment in New York City.[4][3][5] They fled Brazil due to violent crime in their community.[3][6] In New York the family lived in poverty, and furnished their apartment with furniture they found on the street.[4] Fetterman said that her family often depended on food banks and thrift stores.[3] Her mother, who had a Doctor of Philosophy degree from a Brazilian university and had worked as a nutritionist and educator, took jobs cleaning hotels and houses, and was often denied pay due to her status as an undocumented immigrant.[3][6]

Fetterman did not speak English when she arrived in the United States, and enrolled in an English as a second language program at her school in Queens.[3] The family later moved to Newark, New Jersey.[6] She studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.[7]

Fetterman received her green card in 2004 and became a citizen of the United States in 2009.[8]

As First Lady of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Fetterman founded The Braddock Free Store, a non-profit organization that provides local lower-income families with toys, diapers, baby formula, clothing, household items, and furniture.[4][6] The organization serves close to 1,600 families per month.[4][9] She started the Braddock Bench Project, focused on adding benches to local bus stops.[4]

In 2015 Fetterman co-founded 412 Food Rescue, a non-profit organization focused on eliminating food insecurity and providing nutritional resources to families in need.[4][10] The organization redistributed 2.5 million pounds of food in its first two years.[6] She launched the Positive Parking Signs Project, a local initiative installing signs around local communities with sayings like "Follow Your Dreams" and "More Hugs Needed".[4] Fetterman founded For Good PGH in 2017, a non-profit that advocates for diversity and inclusion, which brought the Free Store 15104 under its brand in 2019.[11][12] For Good's largest initiative, is The Hollander Project, a business incubator for women entrepreneurs.[13]

Fetterman at her husband's inauguration in 2019.

As a formerly undocumented immigrant, Fetterman supports immigration reform in the United States.[14][8] She has pushed for the United States Congress to take "humane and compassionate" approaches to immigration, and petitioned that immigrant families should not be separated.[4] She spoke in favor of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for attempting to end the program.[15][16] She also supports the legalization of marijuana in Pennsylvania and is a supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States.[17][7][18] She was named "Best Activist" by the Pittsburgh City Paper for her community involvement.[6]

On June 20, 2018 she served as the emcee for World Refugee Day Pittsburgh.[19] Earlier that month she spoke out about the Shooting of Antwon Rose Jr.[20] Fetterman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Rose, who volunteered at one of her non-profits, was "just a really lovely, gentle kid" and "really special."[20]

Fetterman in 2019.

In 2019 Fetterman and her husband opened the pool at the Lieutenant Governor's Mansion, located on Fort Indiantown Gap, to children who would not normally have access to one.[17] The residence, on property owned by the Pennsylvania National Guard, is located about twenty-five miles from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fetterman, whose family has chosen not to live at the official residence, runs a program teaching water safety at the pool.[17][7][21]

She served as the host and honorary chairperson of the 2019 Hispanic Heritage Gala on September 28, 2019. The event, held at the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh, raised money for the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Foundation Educational Fund.[22] On October 29, 2019 she was the first woman recipient of the Rodef Shalom Congregation's Pursuer of Peace Award.[23]

In February 2020 Fetterman criticized the company Amazon for selling an anti-immigration bumper sticker with the text "Fuck Off, We're Full" written on the shape of the continental United States.[24][25] The sticker was described on the company's website as an "Anti Immigrant Vinyl Car Cumper Window Sticker."[25] She Tweeted Amazon, asking the company to reconsider the "power and influence" of their platform.[25] Amazon responded on February 3, 2020 stating they would remove the sticker from their website.[25]

On March 6, 2020 Fetterman was a speaker at the YOUR HOUR, HER POWER luncheon at the Westmoreland Club, held in honor of International Women's Day.[3][24] She took part in the 2020 Census Tour, speaking at Pennsylvania State University about the importance of filling out the United States Census.[26]

In April 2020 Fetterman spoke about the importance of social distancing, and the power of community engagement, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[27] In September 2020 Fetterman helped organize a shopping-spree event for women first responders.[28]

In 2007, Fetterman met John Fetterman, then the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, after writing him a letter inquiring about the town's role in the steel industry.[4] They were married the following year.[4] The Fettermans have three children, Karl, Grace, and August, and live with their rescue dog, Levi, in a renovated loft in a former car dealership building, built in 1920, in Braddock.[29][30][21][29][31] Fetterman adopted Levi from The Foster Farm, who rescued him from a home in West Virginia.[31]

Fetterman is close friends with Kim Kardashian.[32] She endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[33] She endorsed former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election.[34]

Fetterman was the subject of an online controversy in February 2020 after a local official commented negatively on her husband posting a picture to social media showing her in a Rio Carnival costume.[35]

In August 2020, she spoke publicly about her use of medical marijuana to treat chronic back pain.[36]

On October 11, 2020, Fetterman was verbally assaulted by a white woman at an Aldi grocery store, who used racial slurs and told Fetterman that she "did not belong here [in America]."[37][38] She filmed the incident and posted the video on social media stating, "This behavior and this hatred is taught. If you know her, if she is your neighbor or relative, please, please teach her love instead."[39][40] Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf condemned the incident, calling it "shameful and unacceptable", and offered his support to Fetterman.[41][42]

• Gisele Barreto Fetterman on Instagram
• Gisele Barreto Fetterman on Twitter