Portrait by ChiChi Ubiña

YWCA Greenwich will be holding its 6th Annual Women Who Inspire Awards to recognize exceptional women in our community. YWCA Greenwich’s Women Who Inspire Awards was established to recognize and celebrate outstanding women who have excelled in philanthropic, professional, and volunteer pursuits. Importantly, these honorees have enriched the lives of many in our community. This event acknowledges the changes in society that have led to the fluidity of work/life pursuits for women of today.

 

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Natalie Cook, a senior at Greenwich Academy, has been involved in community service and engagement since middle school. She serves as the Co-Executive Chair of the First Selectman’s Youth Commission (FSYC), a group of students dedicated to addressing youth concerns in Greenwich. As a member of the FSYC, Natalie has developed and conducted multiple projects including Carolyn’s Care, connecting high school students with elderly residents in local assisted living homes to bring them weekly musical entertainment; Offs & Tots, an annual event aimed at building positive relationships between Greenwich youth and Greenwich First Responders.

Natalie is the President of the Abilis Youth Board and has been a member of the Board for three years. She has organized events including a holiday gingerbread decorating day, the Together We Shine prom, and s’mores movie nights. As President of the Youth Board, she also coordinates volunteers for fundraisers such as the Abilis Walk Run and encourages donations.

Natalie is a volunteer server at Coffee for Good. She was named a Civic Scholar through the Civic Scholarship Program at Greenwich Academy for her capstone research project answering the question: “How has activism for neuro-equality taken shape in 20th and 21st century America, and what developed approaches have been the most and least successful at integrating neurodivergent Americans into society?” Natalie used her personal experience from working with the neurodiverse community to answer this question that she believes is essential to moving modern society forwards in a healthy and inclusive way.

At Greenwich Academy, Natalie is the President of the Community Engagement Board, and has been an elected grade representative since Middle School. In this role, she oversees community service programming for the Upper School and coordinates with the Lower and Middle school to organize cohesive and productive community engagement. She is artistic and enjoys creating motivational graphics on her Community Engagement Wall that displays a donation goal for each month. Natalie’s monthly goals have included monetary donations for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and contributions to Person to Person Fairfield. She also supports high school students with community engagement initiatives of their own and does her best to provide them with the connections and platforms that they need to succeed.