Humans of Cranston is a recurring column showcasing the stories of Cranston residents’ community involvement, diversity and unique life perspectives.

Ed Brady is the co-owner of the Historic Park Theatre and Event Center (theparkri.com) and the co-founder of Dig In Dining and Entertainment. Brady and his wife recently welcomed their first child into the world.

“My name’s Ed Brady and I grew up here in Cranston. Both parents worked really hard to give me every opportunity to succeed. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a stay at home dad. I went to Bryant University and went to school here in Cranston. After Bryant, I moved out to LA for two years and started working on red carpet events, meeting celebrities, backgrounds on sets, really enjoying the entertainment aspect of the world and interned for a magazine company out there. Eventually my mom got sick and I moved home and started selling copy machines, but I knew that wasn’t my forever; it was a way to help out while I was at home.

I started my first company called 401 within a year. It was an entertainment-based nightlife magazine/lifestyle brand that was right around when Facebook and Myspace were pretty popular. An initial investor essentially said ‘if you want to open your own place, let me know’ …. We ended up working it out and opening our first place which led to the Thirsty Beaver in Cranston …. We believe food and hospitality can rally communities behind investments; we’re proud that we can go into these communities and help organizations raise money for their nonprofits or school fundraisers or for whatever it may be. Throughout the process of scale and growth, I – Ed Brady – have really taken a liking to giving back and it’s become kind of everything that I’m about. We all have good days, we all have bad days but giving seems to be the universal feeling or, for me, what drives me forward.

At some point in that process, Allan Fung was the mayor and a seat became available in the City Council; it certainly was not anything I had ever studied or ever woken up as a kid thinking ‘I want to be a public servant or a politician.’ I said no and he came back and asked me again and he said ‘if you lead with your community mindset and your giving spirit, then it doesn’t matter if you’re an Independent, Republican or Democrat.’ I gave it some thought (it was a six month term) and I said, ‘what do I have to lose for six months? It’s a learning experience, and I think I can give back.’ I enjoyed it and decided I wanted to run again. I’m really proud of the work I did getting both parties to get along and come together on so many different issues. If you look back, historically every time I served there were more 9-0 votes or 8-1 votes or both sides kind of just vibing and understanding each other’s perspective. In my opinion, in community government that’s exactly how it should be.

[The impact Cranston’s community has had on my life is] everything; my coaches, my teachers, the people who invested in me early in the process in high school and when my mom was going through cancer. Even the mayor at the time was my athletic director. He was a coach, someone to go to and be vulnerable with at an early point in the process and get you back on the right track when you have anger and issues like that …. This [Cranston] is home. So, I guess the mantra, the mission, the everyday getting out of bed feeling, is ‘how can I figure out a way to continually collectively bring people here – not only in our city but in our small state – to just come out of this pandemic, create together, figure out ways to kind of unbreak all of ourselves.’ I know I’m an optimist, I believe in positive growth. I’m not saying I don’t deny all the negative effects of the world and the things I’ve learned, but I choose positivity …. I didn’t know I’d fall this much in love with Cranston. I’ve been fortunate enough to live in other areas of the world, but something about this community, this city, is just special. And I don’t know how else to say it other than while we’re here – if we’ve all chosen this as our home – why not continue to work together to make it the best home that we can?”

This project has been made possible by a Rhode Island Foundation Community Grant, and the efforts of the OneCranston Health Equity Zone of Comprehensive Community Action, Inc. in partnership with the Cranston Herald and Timothy McFate. Want to nominate a Cranston resident to be featured? Email JB at jfulbright@comcap.org.