OUR TEAM
Elora Spencer
she/her
Program Coordinator
elora [at] engageva.org
Nick Gothard
he/him
Senior Civic Engagement Manager, Inclusive Democracy
nick [at] engageva.org
Emily Hein
she/her
Operations Manager
emily [at] engageva.org
Nico Climaco
they/any
Director of Leadership Development
nico [at] engageva.org
Irene Shin
she/her
Executive Director
irene [at] engageva.org
Michelle Moffit
she/her
Director of Partnerships & Data
michelle [at] engageva.org
OUR BOARD
Denise Harrington
League of Women Voters of Virginia
Kate West
Treasurer
Sierra Club
Freddy Mejia
The Commonwealth Institute
Kirk Jones
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Harrison Wallace
Chair
The Climate & Clean Energy Equity Fund
Shonta Mills
SEIU VA 512
Jess Unger
Southern Poverty Law Center
Sookyung Oh
Secretary
Hamkae Center
Nico Climaco
Nico currently resides on occupied Nacotchatnk land (Washington, DC), and joined VCET in January of 2022. As the Leadership Development Manager, they primarily support the Virginia Progressive Leadership Program. Passionate about social justice, collective liberation, and community solutions, Nico finds home in collective and visionary spaces woven together by queer and trans people. A proud JMU alum, they are currently pursuing a Next Economy MBA with LIFT Economy.
Nico learned some of their most important political lessons outside the classroom and was first politicized in high school by learning about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and their own Filipino and Puerto Rican diaspora. As a facilitator, Nico draws on the teachings of Paulo Freire and bell hooks with a lens of popular education and experiential learning. They are invested in co-creating loving spaces and considers relationships & community to be the basis of their work. Nico’s biggest role models are Gizmo the gremlin, HIM from Powerpuff Girls, and the nerds from nerds candy.
Irene Shin
Irene serves as the Executive Director of VCET. Prior to VCET, she served as the Senior Director at Crowdpac, a tech platform focused on combating the influence of big money in politics. Recently, Irene was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the first Korean American woman to serve in the General Assembly. She also serves on the Boards of NAKASEC, the Competitive Commonwealth Fund, and Sister District Project.
Irene, her fiancé, and dog live in the Town of Herndon. In her free time, Irene enjoys… wait what? Free time? What’s that? Fun fact, Irene learned to play the ukulele and bake sourdough during the pandemic.