Natalie Castelo joined Ashby Village as a volunteer this past spring. Not long afterwards, the word went out that a new Program Manager was needed, and the rest is history! “The stars aligned,” she said. After being won over by the community while volunteering, she was thrilled at the prospect of joining the staff.
Natalie joins us after a 17-year career in Education. She’s been a teacher, an instructional Coach, a Program Manager, and a Vice Principal. Her very first teaching position was at Willard Middle School in Berkeley, a place she still holds dear. Reflecting on her time at Willard, Natalie says, "I still flip through my old yearbooks from those years. It was tough work, but looking back, they are some of my favorite memories!"
In between lesson planning, facilitating meetings, observing lessons, and program design, Natalie managed to squeeze in a lot of great travel, great books, and great meals. She takes at least one big trip each year. Some of her favorite travels include: a solo trip to Oaxaca where she explored beaches, architecture, and ate her weight in Oaxacan cheese; her first trip to Paris to meet her mother-in-law where she saw some of her favorite Impressionist art up close and ate the best Algerian food she still can't manage to track down in the Bay Area; her many trips to see family in rural Poland where a walk in the woods to hunt mushrooms was part of every summer day; Spain, where she fell in love with Madrid, and braved the midday heat because she couldn't stop exploring the city; and Amsterdam, where wild green parrots woke her up each morning, but always at a reasonable hour.
A first-generation American with family roots in Mexico and Poland, Natalie was born and raised in Los Angeles. She moved to the Bay Area in 1994 to attend UC Berkeley where she earned her BA and MA degrees. The decision to stay in the Bay was an easy one, and in the 24 years since moving here, she’s lived in Berkeley, Emeryville, and her current home, Oakland.
She loves the welcoming atmosphere of Ashby Village and looks forward to meeting more members and volunteers as she continues to settle in. If you're in the office, she'd love it if you dropped in and said hello!