Today, we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Zea.
Hi Natalia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am 44 years old mother of two (10-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter), a dog mom, and the Chief Public Policy, Community Engagement and Communications Officer for The Children’s Trust. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but grew up mostly in Denver, Colorado. This juxtaposition has been a central component of shaping who I am.
I never met someone with my background during my time in Colorado. Now I live in Miami, where no amount of salsa classes can compensate for my lack of natural Latin rhythm. But that sense of being different has helped shape my life and success. I turned it into a desire to lead – to never accept the status quo – and to be willing to dream big and take risks.
I have moved to three different cities without knowing anyone there (El Paso, San Antonio, Miami) to prioritize my initial dream of being an international correspondent (becoming the next Christiane Amanpour was my goal). I moved to Miami (for the job), and when I fell in love a few months after moving here, I took the gamble of marriage and kids and moved my career in a vastly different direction than I had always envisioned.
I have lived in Miami for 18 years and have built a great life here for myself and my kids. There are so many wonderful people here; this is a place where truly meaningful community can be created.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like so many other single parents, I do my best to balance their evolving needs and growth with my own, as well as a full-time career that I love and all the other components of life that keep us all busy: from a loving romantic relationship, social connection with friends, and bills, taxes, housekeeping, some kind of self-care, and the occasional domestic challenge (anyone else had their garage door opener stop working completely – while the car is inside – when they were running late for flag football carpool pickup?)
Every day brings new opportunities and challenges, and I wish I could say I handled all these effortlessly. It is not without effort. Lots and lots of effort. And while I can never be a perfect mom/dog mom/career woman/bug killer/laundry doer/meal maker/errands runner/health nut/sports mom/ and on and on, I try to demonstrate for my kids a level of resourcefulness and grit that will serve them well later in life. I just hope, for their sake, garage door mechanics improve in the future.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work means so much to me and always has. It drove my moves throughout the country and was the primary driver for my life – until I had kids who now drive my life and sometimes drive me crazy!
I knew from the age of 15 that I wanted to “change the world,” though at that age, I didn’t know what that meant. I knew there was economic and social injustice, and I wantrd to have a role in exposing it.
That led me to a career in journalism. I picked the broadcast news track because in the late 90s/early 2000s, broadcast news had a lot more traction than radio, and print hadn’t yet experienced its digital renaissance. I spent 14 years covering general assignments stories (crime, politics, and the dreaded car accident and Black Friday shopping stories) as well as investigative stories when I could dig them up and fight with my bosses endlessly for the time to develop them (thank you, former bosses, for putting up with me).
In 2016, I made a move bolder than moving across the country to chase my journalism dream. I chose a new path outside of journalism. I loved that industry and all those working in challenging conditions to bring us real news despite the undeserved attacks the profession has been receiving. But I hit a ceiling. I knew I could no longer make the meaningful impact that drove me the 14 years prior in local news. I had always identified as a journalist but needed to do more.
I went to work in public service. I took a leap of faith and worked for Miami-Dade County Public Schools on impactful youth violence projects, developed partnerships with business leaders on behalf of our school system, expanded a youth internship program to help high school students have access to work with everyone from judges to CEOs, helped lead its crisis communications through COVID-19 – the unprecedented shutdown of schools, transition to distance learning, and then the massive reopening.
Later, I accepted a position with The Children’s Trust. The Trust is a funder of children and family programming and is so much more than that. As an executive at The Trust, I have the privilege of leading two teams that help drive community conversation, innovative projects, policy, and grant funding for helping children and their families. This work is meaningful and challenging, and I truly love it.
Over the various roads my career has traveled, I’ve realized that no matter the title, the work location, or the exact role for which one receives a paycheck, if passion about the mission is at the heart of it, your career never feels like work.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My children for being awesome humans who will leave a positive mark on the world and who sometimes share me with my work.
My parents, Michael and Mely, who have been the most supportive, incredible guides through my journey. I am so lucky to have them both.
My boyfriend and my friends for being the best sounding boards ever and putting up with me.
David Lawrence Jr., Founder of the Children’s Movement and The Children’s Trust, who helped direct me toward a path that, so far, is the pinnacle of my career and whose assignment of reading 34,74800 (at least it feels like that many!) books has me back on the reading wagon again.
Adrienne Roark, President, Content Development/Integration for CBS News, who is shattering glass ceilings in every move she makes, and who had faith in me and gave me encouragement and time to develop impactful investigative stories.
All of my fellow somewhat irreverent mothers who help us all understand that being a perfect mom does not exist and that we must laugh our way through this adventure called parenting.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliazea4/
Image Credits
Vivian Vo Photography
