Natalie is currently the Director of Programs and Engagement for Episcopal City Mission (ECM) in Boston, MA. ECM cultivates partnerships between local organizations, grassroots movements and faith-rooted communities who are working towards economic, racial and immigrant justice in Massachusetts.
Natalie grew up in Houston, Texas as the oldest of five girls. Her mom, Sedonia, often took Natalie and her four sisters to visit retirement communities, serve meals to people experiencing homelessness and to repair old homes. Sedonia’s example of lived faith inspired in Natalie a personal desire to seek God through her work. At twenty-three, Natalie accepted position as a community organizing fellow with Life Together, a program for young adults in the Episcopal Church.
Here Natalie experienced how community organizing simultaneously seeks collective justice and develops an individual awareness of our agency. This inspired Natalie to lead community movements in Boston, New Zealand and Nairobi, Kenya. In Kenya, Natalie served as an Episcopal Missionary and worked with young adults to found Tatua, an organization that mentors local leaders to organize movements for sustainable and just approaches to poverty. Most recently, Natalie served as the Executive Director for the Leadership Development Initiative
Natalie has also worked extensively as a trainer, teacher, consultant and/or congregational development specialist with organizations such as: The Harvard Kennedy School, St. Paul’s Richmond, Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Diocese of New York, Planned Parenthood Global, and the Global Episcopal Missionary Network. Natalie was a featured speaker at TEDx Beacon Street in November of 2014.
Natalie is a postulant for the Diaconate in the Diocese of Massachusetts and was awarded an Episcopal Church Fellowship in 2012 to launch Praxis; a national community of faith-rooted leaders who are taking collective action to embody love, justice, and reconciliation. Natalie enjoys traveling, staying active, hosting dinner parties, and reading memoirs.
Natalie E. Thomas 