In our Chavez Clubs photo library, Natalie LeGerrette can always be seen with a big smile surrounded by her Chavista students! Her smile has brightened Chavez Club meetings for more than nine years and has happily touched hundreds of Chavistas who have worked with Natalie to learn how to become young leaders and to learn the values of Cesar Chavez. Here she is smiling with Chavistas on one of our annual Washington DC trips.
As a student at Point Loma High School, Natalie always wondered what her grandparents were doing to carry on the legacy of Cesar Chavez through the Cesar Chavez Service Clubs. Natalie was a bit bored with school and she wanted to get out in the real world and work on real challenges. She started doing community work by volunteering at the Humane Society for a year, but in 2009, she was sponsored by Price Scholars to work with the Chavez Clubs. By 2010 she was helping to open new clubs as the Chavez Clubs program continued to grow.
For the first few years, Natalie supported herself with part time work but continued to volunteer for the Chavez Clubs. And then in 2014, Natalie was able to secure an Americorps position that offered a small stipend which allowed her to start working full time for the Chavez Clubs.
Since then, Natalie has grown as a teacher, a mentor for Chavistas, and a leadership role model. Natalie became the Club Manager in 2016 and now also sits as a member of the Chavez Clubs Board of Directors. She manages the Clubs staff, making sure that every Chavez Club is delivering an amazing experience for our Chavistas.
But, this summer, Club Executive Director Linda LeGerrette has been busy reorganizing and hiring new staff to replace Natalie and Ana who are both moving on to new adventures. We are sad but also very happy that Natalie has decided to take on a new challenge in her life, working toward a degree in Journalism at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). So during the next 3-5 years, Nat will be hitting the books in her new life in Las Vegas, We are so happy for her and look forward to following her progress.
But, the Chavez Clubs aren't going to be completely out of her life. Natalie will also be working remotely for the Clubs on several important projects. One project will be to organize the club data and information so that as an organization, we can more clearly show outcomes and accomplishments from our programs. This important work will help the Chavez Clubs continue to seek funding to support our current clubs and help us to grow into new schools.
Here is Carlos kissing his grand daughter Natalie at one of our Club events. But we are not kissing you goodbye Natalie. We know you will always be with the Chavez Clubs no matter where you are! Good luck in your studies Natalie! Si Se Puede!