It was at WHYY’s headquarters and with a room full of environmental activists and socially conscious members that a Dominican woman from Northeast Philadelphia received the Sustain PHL Activist of the Year award, an initiative by Green Philly, last evening Aug. 16.
The Philadelphia’s SustainPHL Awards highlight and celebrate community changemakers and sustainability visionaries.
Esperanza was proud to be represented in that group by Gabriella Paez, our Education and Community Development Manager. Paez was acknowledged for her leadership and passion to provide sustainable resources and accessibility to our largely Latino Hunting Park community.
“Make sure that everyone has access to (sustainability) information, try to translate it, connect to someone who can do that. Because our community sometimes does not participate because of the lack of information, ”said Paez.
For Esperanza, the language barrier within the community is not an excuse to not educate our community about sustainability. Paez’s efforts have focused on making all of the city’s resources bilingual and accessible to our largely spanish speaking population.
In her role at Esperanza, Paez manages the Hunting Park Community Collaborative and the Hunting Park Community Science Network, and leads NeighborCare program that funds greening and cleaning projects. She also leads the implementation of Esperanza STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education outreach in the community.
In her own words, Paez seeks to “unify people from all sectors with the sole purpose of lifting the community and igniting positive change”.
The “2018 Activist of the Year” award winner is also a MS candidate for the Non Profit Leadership program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.
Congratulations Gabriella, we’re so proud of YOU!