Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light is powered by our faithful volunteers! Behind the scenes, we have a team of individuals who help ensure our operations run smoothly and that we further our reach in supporting congregations and people of faith throughout Pennsylvania in taking climate action. This group comprises a small team of part-time staff, active board members, and vibrant fellows.
Current Staff and Contractors
Katie Ruth, Executive Director
she/they
Katie connects humans to the planet, each other, and themselves. As Executive Director at Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, they are responsible for supporting a volunteer board and small team of staff in cultivating a moral response to climate change that is interfaith, inclusive, and intentional. They hold an MA in Public Leadership, and a BA in Christian theology. Katie is focused on facilitating partnerships between individuals and institutions to promote social change and build community. They are passionate about peacemaking and justice, rooted in their deep connection to the environment. Their career spans a variety of experience in nonprofit administration, grassroots organizing and outreach, and faith-based community services. Katie is involved in several community resilience projects including environmental organizing, safe shelter, and the arts. They are an avid reader, enjoy exploring new places, and are almost always found with a cup of tea in hand.
Amani Reid, Policy Specialist
she/her
Amani initially started working with PA IPL as the Community Organizer for Beat the Heat in 2019.
Amani Reid has a bachelor’s in Political Science with an Environmental Studies minor from Temple University and is a former U.S. Army Reservist. She is also a Temple University Diamond Award Recipient.
Her past work includes being a Student Career Peer Advisor for Temple University’s Internships and Career Development Department, Education Coordinator for Audubon Pennsylvania’s Discovery Center, and U.S. Census Bureau Enumerator. She has interned under State Representative Donna Bullock, Overbrook Environmental Education Center and the Department of Interiors’ Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
Amani is dedicated to stewardship and advocacy work to include climate justice, environmental justice, and equality. She is a New Jersey native, however she loves to travel and has been to London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, and Accra, Ghana. She is a musician and child of God who is very excited to be a part of PA IPL!
Kathy Hrabovsky, Development & Project Manager
she/her
Kathy has been working in sustainability management and community outreach & education, and practicing architecture for almost forty years. Studying sustainable design, environmental policy, and sustainable community development fueled her passion for regenerative projects & systems. Kathy channels that passion into creation care, advocacy, community volunteerism, and building new partnerships as Development & Program Manager with PA IPL. To fulfill PA IPL’s mission, Kathy enjoys working with a broad range of stakeholders to understand their needs, and then helps them to address their needs as they focus on their call to be stewards of the earth. Kathy is committed to sharing knowledge on Environmental Justice & Conservation in order to improve Quality of Life for all species with whom we share the Earth. Personally, Kathy leads an active & healthy lifestyle, cycling & hiking on the weekends, organic gardening, and traveling with her husband & dog to visit their two grown children.
Arielle Sternman, Administrator
she/her
Arielle joined us as a part-time administrator in July 2021, working behind-the-scenes to keep our data base current, our communications timely; and our events easy to navigate.
Arielle has a degree in Media Studies from NYU and spent eight years teaching English as a Foreign Language in several countries before returning to the US and becoming the administrator of a trade organization in Philadelphia. She is excited to use what she has learned to support the mission and vital work of PA IPL.
Renika Weimer, SW Organizer & Outreach Coordinator
she/her
Renika holds a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Susquehanna University. She enjoys reading, traveling, and drinking good coffee. She is passionate about interfaith engagement and has previously led interfaith dialogue on her college campus. Her studies have allowed her to develop an international political perspective on climate change. She has been doing grassroots outreach with PA IPL and is eager to get more involved in the interfaith response to climate change.
Greg Williams, Volunteer Creation Care Coordinator
he/him
Greg Williams was a classroom teacher, environmental educator, and administrator during 30 years of his working life. He loved teaching kids about the natural world and how to care for it. At retirement age, as he was selling his used bookstore in NW Philadelphia, he was able to help with childcare for his young granddaughter Talula. However, he was heartbroken to think of the world that she, and all the kids he taught, would inherit and felt he needed to take on a “retirement job” of doing something about climate change. After schooling himself and studying what the possibilities were, his first step was to join a neighborhood group of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light. Over the last 9 years he served on the Board and found his “calling. ” When he moved to Central PA to be close to other grandchildren he started doing creation care by removing “misplaced” plants, AKA non-native invasives, and replacing them with natives. With hundreds of volunteers, and through a partnership between PA IPL and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the collaborative effort has resulted in nearly 35,000 trees being planted or distributed to others who plant them across Pennsylvania. He especially loves the spiritual exercise of being in the natural world and alert and aware of all the wonders he finds there and is grateful for this opportunity.
Rebecca Watson, Bookkeeper
she/her
Rebecca has served as our bookkeeper since 2016 when we were lucky to get to know her through her other job as the office manager of Interfaith Philadelphia. We have heard Rebecca literally cheer aloud when a little flood of donations comes in! Her vantage point certainly allows her to see all the ways that your financial contributions keep PA IPL’s work going, and we’re thankful for her enthusiasm and her attention to detail. Rebecca and her husband Hector live in Philadelphia with their chihuahua, Mia.
Hailey Brundage, Fellow
she/her
Hailey has worked as a fellow at Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light since March 2022. In May 2023, she will receive her BA in Criminal Justice with a minor in Environmental Studies from Marywood University. She is dedicated to environmental advocacy and through her work with PA IPL she does grasstops and grassroots outreach and organizing. She is an outdoors woman that loves to connect with every aspect nature has to offer and can often be found surrounded by family and friends.
Ty Fowler, Fellow
she/her
Ty is a first semester fellow, and working towards a BA in Philosophy at Temple University. She has a passion for environmental advocacy and justice, and has more recently gained experience in the field as a co-coordinator for the student coalition, Temple Climate Action. She loves reading, skateboarding, going on walks, and creating art. She is excited to work with and learn from PA IPL!
Abi Thomas, Fellow
she/her
Abi is a first time fellow and a local organizer in Northeast Philadelphia! As a community college student she understands the importance of utilizing different organizing skills for different demographics of people, including interfaith audiences. She believes that environmental advocacy can bring people together and is a shared cause in ways people don’t often expect. She hopes to finish her undergraduate degree within the next few years and continue to support the intersectionality of her faith and the current events of our world in a way that includes everyone in the fight for justice. She enjoys thrifting, spending time with friends and working out!
Samantha Kline, Fellow
she/her
Samantha is a senior at Millersville University majoring in Geography with a concentration in Environmental Studies and a minor in Environmental Hazards and Emergency Management. Her previous experience with lobbying congress in DC about social justice issues combined with her passion for bettering the environment and fighting climate change has pushed her towards pursuing climate advocacy. Through PA IPL she hopes to make connections, gain valuable experience, and (of course) help the planet!
Note from Katie and the Board: While our all-volunteer Board and chapter volunteers are both passionate and incredibly dedicated, PA IPL would benefit enormously from having a full-time Executive Director and full-time staff. Both Executive Director and all administrative/program staff are currently part-time positions. You can help us expand our team by making a donation to PA IPL today. Would you like to make a commitment to recurring donations, offer matching funds, or explore alternate giving options? Please reach out to our Executive Director to set up a time to talk.
Link: https://paipl.salsalabs.org/onlinedonation/index.html
Former staff:
Rev. Alison Cornish
The Reverend Alison Cornish served as PA IPL’s Executive Director (a part-time position) from July 2015 through July 2020, helping us continue to mature from our early beginnings to a 10-year-old organization. Under Alison’s able leadership, we expanded and deepened the interfaith aspect of our work, and we added a contracted book keeper, then a part-time administrator, and periodically added project staff.
Alison is a Unitarian Universalist minister. Her rich background in parish ministry, nonprofit management, multifaith work, advocacy for the marginalized — and a passion and commitment to care about, and for, the Earth, that shaped her theology and activism was evident throughout her time with PA IPL. We are grateful for all the ways that she shared her wisdom and shaped our journey!
Cricket Eccleston Hunter
Cricket Eccleston Hunter served as PA IPL’s Executive Director and then Program Director for over 10 years. She transformed the organization and was deeply involved in developing the program development, events, fundraising, and operations of PA IPL.
Cricket has degrees in biology and education and has been both a middle school science teacher and a recruiter for Teach for America. She is a member of Grace Lutheran Church in State College, where she resides with her husband and two daughters. Cricket has been with PA IPL since the fall of 2010. In her own words: “PA IPL represents, for me, an integration of the science that has long interested and concerned me with a faith-based imperative to care for the earth and (perhaps even more urgently) for our brothers and sisters: particularly the poorest among us who inevitably bear the brunt of our human experiment in constantly expanding consumption.”
Julia Reinhardt, Student Work Study
Julia is an intern at the CommUnity Zone for her last semester as a Bloomsburg student. She is majoring in Social Work and minoring in Environmental.
Julia will be working with The CommUnity Zone on the PA IPL Creation Care project to plant trees around parts of Pennsylvania. She also will be helping with PA IPL’s Annual Bike Ride fundraiser