Iafrate joins team at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Actionv

Mar 27, 2021

Staff Reports

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

Angela Iafrate

PARKERSBURG — Angela Iafrate has accepted a parttime position as engagement and program coordinator with the not-for-profit volunteer group Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.

“Angie will work with MOVCA leadership team to design, organize and promote among youth and young adults up to four contests in 2021 with themes drawn from the T.H.R.I.V.E. agendas,” Giulia Mannarino, Climate Action vice-chair said. “With her previous experience in teaching and working with youth, she is well-suited for helping us organize a youth group drawn from students who participate in the contests.”

Iafrate also will assist with maintaining the group’s membership records and lists.

Iafrate said she is “a teacher by training and an advocate at heart, most energized when working at the grassroots towards a more just and sustainable society.”

She has a bachelor’s in Spanish and a master’s in secondary education/Spanish from West Virginia University, including nine graduate hours in nonprofit management. Over a six-year period, she taught Spanish language classes at Parkersburg Catholic High School and at Charleston Catholic High School where she also was faculty adviser to the Environmental Club.

Iafrate has been involved in community activities and advocacy as a volunteer, including a year of AmeriCorps service and serving two-year terms on the boards of the Mid-Ohio Valley Multicultural Festival and the Appalachian Prison Book Project.

She is training in software development at Mountwest Technical and Community College and is the program assistant for West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light where she maintains a database of supporters, composes communications for email lists and copy for website and networks with environmental organizations.

“We are fortunate to have found such a capable and experienced person to work with us,” said Eric Engle, Climate Action chair. “As we come out of the restrictions of the pandemic, we’re excited to have Angie guiding our engagement with students and teachers in the MOV.” Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of dealing with it. For more information, go to https://main.movclimateaction.org.