KEEPING THE ENVIRONMENT HEALTHY

Mariah Okrongly stepped into the role of executive director for Katonah, New York-based Bedford 2030 on Nov. 1, succeeding Midge Iorio, who guided the organization for the past 13 years.

“This community has been so lucky to have Midge capably steering the helm of this organization, and we will miss her leadership. We are equally thrilled that Mariah will be stepping into this role,” said Karen Sabath, Bedford 2030 Board president.

She was instrumental in developing The Building Health and Performance Initiative, a partnership program with the town of Bedford to make local rental units safer and healthier. She helped develop Bedford 2030’s tool to provide essential personalized information to help people transition away from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles and also led efforts to strengthen data and metrics and reach new audiences.

Iorio joined Bedford 2020 as program director in 2012 and was promoted to executive director four years later. During her tenure, the organization built a strong brand, created many impactful programs, surpassed its initial goals, and relaunched as Bedford 2030 with a new 10-year climate action plan and aggressive new goals.

Iorio has been described as fantastic at building relationships, upbeat, expressive and fun but always serious about the issues. She’s maintained a lot of discipline, focus and articulation of the organization’s mission.