Oct 17, 2017 By The 2 min read

A Charleroi high school graduate now working for the state Department of Community and Economic Development will return to the area this week during an awards ceremony and dinner to highlight groups and volunteers in the Mon Valley.

Johnna A. Pro, working as the regional director of community affairs for the DCED, will serve as master of ceremonies for the Mon Valley Initiative event set for 6 p.m., Thursday, in Pleasant Hills.

The Initiative, which was founded in 1988 and provides community outreach and development and workforce and business development in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties, will honor groups from Charleroi, Monessen, West Newton and other areas during the event.

Also during the evening, the Mon Valley Initiative will present its 2017 Sen. H. John Heinz III Award for Community Service to an individual for “outstanding service and diligent efforts to promote and further the resurgence of the Mon Valley,” and its 2017 Regional Partnership Award to an organization that has worked with MVI over the past year on a project for the betterment of the Mon Valley.

Pro, a 1982 Charleroi Area High School and 1986 Indiana University of Pennsylvania grad, was a journalist for both Pittsburgh-area print and broadcast news outlets for nearly 30 years before turning her attention to jobs in Harrisburg, most recently settling into her role with the DCED.

“As I look up and down the river, every one of these communities have assets, from Elizabeth to Brownsville,” Pro said of the Mid-Mon Valley during an event held there last year.

Additionally, during the evening community development corporations from Braddock, Charleroi, East Pittsburgh, Monessen, Rankin, Swissvale, Turtle Creek and West Newton will present their annual awards at the ceremony.