Natalie Cook

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 also the President of the Abilis Youth Board and has been a member of the Board for three years. Some events she has organized with Abilis include 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 also works as 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 forward 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 schools 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.

For tickets and sponsorships, please visit www.ywcagrn.org/womenwhoinspire24