Honorary Consul
Republic of Portugal

Consul Bill Gouveia has served the Luso-American Community in Connecticut since 2002, and has been a practicing Attorney in the Bridgeport area since December of 1981.

He obtained his B.A. from the University of Fairfield in 1979, and his Juris Doctor degree from Temple University in 1981. He is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the Bridgeport Bar Association.

Prior to being appointed as Honorary Consul, Attorney Gouveia has served as President of the Portuguese Club Vasco Da Gama in Bridgeport from 1988 to 1989. He was also Police Commissioner for the City of Bridgeport from 1991 to 1993, and is the Attorney for the Spanish Merchants Association since 1986.

More recently, Consul Gouveia was an alternate member for the Ethics Board of the Town of Monroe in 2002. He currently volunteers as co-chair of the scholarship committee of the Portuguese American Civic League, an organization he continues with as a member.

Consul Gouveia immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13 years old. From a very early age, Consul Gouveia's mother instilled in him the importance of an education, and his role model was "Tio Zeca," who was his father's oldest brother and had become a Supreme Court Judge in Portugal.

As Honorary Consul, he is at the service of the individual and collective group of Portuguese that reside and travel through Connecticut. His post is overseen directly from the office of the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities in Lisbon. Beside his official duties, Consul Gouveia acts as a spokesman for the heritage and culture of Portugal and promotes the continuation of a strong link between Portugal and the local Portuguese American communities residing in Connecticut.

Consul Gouveia is married and resides in Monroe, Connecticut with his family.