Kitty Nangle

Kitty Nangle joined the staff of NCCJSTL in September of 2005 and works with Executive Director Martin Rafanan and other staff to strengthen resource development efforts including our events, grant proposals, and major donor programs.

After working for more than two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the impoverished campo of Paraguay, Kitty Nangle has seen firsthand the conditions of the oppressed. She knows how in South America, class and skin color distinguish opportunities in education, health care and employment. She understands the need to address systemic oppression in our own culture to make communities more inclusive and more effective.

Kitty is committed to NCCJSTL's mission to fight bias, bigotry and racism and promote understanding and respect among all people. The vision of NCCJSTL to make our community a better place for all of us and not just for some of us is close to her heart.

“It took me going thousands of miles away to see the injustices that exist at my front door,” she said. “I never noticed how ingrained it is even here.”

She saw how the people she came to love were affected by the subtleties of prejudice and the effects of institutionalized discrimination that span borders and hemispheres.

A St. Louis native, Ms. Nangle graduated from Regis University with a bachelor of science in biology. In 2001, she joined Peace Corps, where she served in rural health extension helping poor subsistence farmers. Using Spanish and the native Guaraní tongue, her work there had a broad focus.

For her community, she solicited funds from organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, former Peace Corps volunteer organizations and other private benefactors. This involved preparing budgets, follow-up reports and presentations to organizations.

She worked to earn the trust of the locals, and developed relationships with community leaders to solidify support for the running-water system she completed. It now serves 110 homes and continues to grow. She also built 44 alternative, wood-burning stoves in order to improve nutrition and prevent smoke inhalation inside the local homes. She trained community members to carry on her work to ensure the ongoing benefit to the people of her community, a town called General Aquino.

The work Ms. Nangle did in Paraguay taught her about working with communities, the fiscal realities of project management and what it takes to get the job done.

More recently, Ms. Nangle has worked in global business development for the Impact Group. There, she honed her skills in creating new business relationships with Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Nangle is excited to join team at the National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis. She looks forward to using her skills to contribute to the ongoing need for social justice for all.

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” – Albert Einstein