By Karin Evans
Along with the move to new offices and the anticipation of new activities as the New Year rolls around, we will welcome Manuela Pegoraro to our village.
When Andy Gaines and other Ashby Village representatives started the search for someone to replace Andrea Mok when she announced she was leaving to go back to school, they set a high bar. They wanted someone with great energy and enthusiasm for the many challenges ahead. They wanted a person with exceptional skills of personal engagement, communication, flexibility, and imagination. Someone easy to relate to, someone completely reliable, someone extraordinarily hard-working.
That someone, ideally, would have leadership skills, excellent communication, a gift for organization, cultural awareness, and a sensitivity to the needs of people as they grow older.
Manuela Pegoraro had it all and then some, including substantial international experience, and the ability to speak five languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Italian) going on six (basic Hebrew).
For her part, Manuela was most excited about Ashby Village because she likes connecting with people, wants to be energetically engaged in whatever she does, and has loved working with seniors—“because of their stories and their pursuit of authentic relationships,” she says.
She also liked the idea of a fast-paced environment where she could work closely with all the members and staff, be part of a team, and have a direct impact on people. She was drawn to Ashby Village’s mission and its status as a small, growing organization that would welcome creativity, flexibility, and hands-on management.
Manuela’s experience is both broad and deep. It’s also unusually diverse. She worked most recently as an administrator and fundraiser for a nonprofit in Jerusalem, running poverty assistance programs for East Jerusalem and West Bank residents. This work followed a stint as Communications Officer for the European Commission, Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in Bilbao, Spain. Before that she worked as a Project Manager in Bolzano, Italy, at the South Tyrol Innovation Park, managing a pool of local and foreign experts, and planning events.
Her favorite atmosphere, says Manuela, is a fast-paced multicultural environment, with complex requirements, one that presents daily challenges. Even before her official start date, she pitched in to help paint the new offices.
Manuela Pegoraro, welcome to Ashby Village! As she begins her work in January of 2017, everyone will have a chance to meet and welcome our new Community Engagement Manager.