BARRETT Sarah

DIRECTOR OF YWCA ALLENTOWN

As executive director of YWCA Allentown, Sarah Barrett has no problem rolling with the punches, even if that means grabbing a paddle and climbing into a boat. She’s not just an advocate for the YWCA’s community rowing program (a partnership with Lehigh University), she’s also an active participant. Even though she’d never rowed before, she found herself right at home on the water. “I got in and I never wanted to get out,” she says.

Rowing may sound like an odd offering from a YWCA, but it adheres to one of the organization’s goals of fostering community connection and personal growth. And, Barrett says, it’s something the people of the Lehigh Valley wanted: “We would never offer programming without asking for input from our community.”

Barrett first came on board with the YWCA in 2009 as a volunteer with The Perfect Fit for Working Women program. “I realized pretty quickly I had a love for, and a capacity for, nonprofit work,” she says. She was named executive director in 2017. During her tenure, The Perfect Fit has continued to thrive. The program provides women with professional clothing so they can look the part for an upcoming job interview.

“That clothing is really a tool— it’s a tool for empowerment, it’s a tool for confidence building,” Barrett says. After they land the job, they can return for a week’s worth of outfits to spare them from having to squander their first paycheck on a new wardrobe.

The YWCA helps women meet their goals in other ways, too. Barrett says during the pandemic they heard from a lot of women who wanted to change careers but lacked the computer skills to do it, so they launched the YW Tech Lab, which offers a number of free courses in everything from IT support to digital marketing.

The staff at YWCA Allentown is small—four people—but mighty. And Barrett is quick to share credit for all of its successes with her co-workers and the many volunteers who donate their time and talents. “We do a lot with a little,” she says.

Sheryl Petrillo went vegan for health reasons in 2011. But after she began researching animal rights issues, she felt a shift, a new sense of purpose. “Probably since about 2017 I’ve been vegan for the animals. That is my primary reason, and that is when my activism started to kick in,” she says. Petrillo founded her nonprofit, Animal Defenders Greater Lehigh Valley, in 2019. “Our mission is to build an inclusive vegan community by planting seeds of knowledge and promoting compassionate living,” Petrillo says. It’s about more than just changing eating habits, too; true veganism, Petrillo says, is a lifestyle. “It’s the clothing that we wear. It’s things we consider entertainment. It’s making choices that cause the least amount of suffering that you can.”

Animal Defenders ran a vegan food pantry for three years. Recently, it’s been leading an afterschool program for Dieruff High School students who are curious about plantbased eating. Its website (animaldefendersglv.org ) is a wealth of information for both veterans and newcomers to the world of veganism, and includes