Meet Ioanna! Ioanna Moriatis is our Program Assistant at Empatico. She works on everything from programs to social media and is based out of Cairo, Egypt! Get to know Ioanna and the awesome work she does here.
- Name:
Ioanna Moriatis
- Title:
Program Assistant
- Where are you based?
Cairo, Egypt
- What do you do at Empatico?
I support the marketing team with Empatico’s social media content, helping draft copy for our social media channels, brainstorming ideas for engagement, and creating some of the graphics we use (thank you, Canva!). I also work with the partnerships team, supporting with research into different organizations in the education space and brainstorming different ways we might be able to partner with them! I’ve also been lucky enough to have the opportunity to help the programs team with projects here and there!
- Tell us about your professional journey and how you ended up at Empatico. Why did you join the Empatico team?
Since high school, I’ve loved working with children in educational contexts, whether through internships, school clubs, or even just babysitting and working as a camp counselor! Growing up in a Greek-Argentine family, I was also always really interested in learning about different cultures, countries, and languages. In college, I actually ended up interning for a New York-based education initiative, Global Partners Jr., with Travis Hardy, now Empatico’s Director of Programs. This experience helped me realize that I could explore a career combining my passion for learning about the world AND my interest in the education space.
Since moving to Egypt, I’ve continued to explore my interest in education in different ways, working at the American University in Cairo, helping to build a program for young changemakers and doing partnerships work with Ashoka Arab World, and tutoring and supporting nonprofit education programs outside of work.
After following Empatico’s work for some time, I found my way to the team and work with Travis again after going back to school for my Master of Public Administration here in Cairo! I’ve learned so much from this incredible team, and become more inspired every day by the work they’re doing! I’d say I’m still at the start of my professional journey, but I’ve loved working in communications and partnerships work in the nonprofit world because of how deeply intertwined with the core programmatic work of organizations like Empatico. I love helping spread the word about Empatico’s mission and impact, and I’m so excited to keep exploring how I can support this type of work in the future.
- What is the most exciting project you’re working on right now?
I’m really excited about the general direction we’re headed in with our social media content! We’ve been playing with a lot of new ideas and creating so much new content. It’s been so much fun to experiment with different things and work with the team to really hone in on how we want to engage with different channels. It’s been particularly exciting to think of different ways to turn our classroom resources into bite-sized content for social media so more of the world can learn from Empatico!
- Can you share a memory of a teacher who made a difference in your life?
I can’t help but think back to my three French teachers, Mrs. Nelson, Ms. Williams, and Mrs. Bilali. They all challenged me in different ways and helped me find my love of learning new languages and cultures. One memory that comes to mind is how Mrs. Bilali encouraged our class to start a program where we’d visit our local elementary schools to read children’s books in French and help expose more students to the language!
- What is your favorite way to start the workday?
I love a good list! My favorite way to start the workday is probably making a cup of tea or coffee, putting on some music, and mapping out the things I need to get done in my planner!
- What song have you had on repeat recently?
Baby Shark is currently a favorite in our house, at least when my 8-month-old daughter Eva is awake! Once she’s asleep, my go-to songs at the moment are Morning by Sarah Jarosz and anything by Lizzo :).
