“The why is because I think healing is part of our birthright, and art is a mechanism and a tool for that being true. I always want to be a person who does their part.”
At the intersection of artistry and advocacy, poetry and practice, grassroots and global reach stands Natalie Patterson.
Natalie is a multi-disciplinary teaching artist, applying her skillset from the halls of juvenile detention centers to the boardrooms of international corporations, all while focusing on a simple yet powerful question: “What does it mean to be liberated?”
This was the question that initially lit up a young Natalie at open mic nights, where she honed her voice as a poet and discovered the power of bringing strangers together in a room for the express purpose of being moved. As Natalie stepped into a career as an educator, she realized she had to harness her creativity to take on a new challenge — crafting custom workshops in spaces that had for so long only seen a flat approach to buzz words like “diversity” and “inclusion.” The foundation for liberation, Natalie realized, would need innovation.
At high schools, at non-profits, at prisons, and at major brands, Natalie moved beyond the “passive Powerpoint” approach to education, leveraging dynamic workshop strategies that encouraged in-room growth, curiosity, and compassion. Abstract concepts, along with larger cultural conversations, would be made tangible through talking circles, meaningful exchanges, and art. What’s more, Natalie routinely drew upon her own personal experiences as a queer Black woman, modeling the empathetic, intersectional approach she encourages through her teaching, and in her students.
For nearly 20 years now, Natalie has built on this approach in the non-profit sector, in higher education, and with brands including Google, Lululemon, Forbes, Sephora, Johnson & Johnson, Adidas, SoulPancake, and more. Natalie’s workshops don’t just educate; they provide opportunities for truth-telling, healing and leave participants with deeper communication practices that actually work. At Natalie’s workshops, attendees come to better know the world, better know each other, and, most importantly, better know themselves.
Natalie has brought her passion for social justice and trauma-informed work to the mental health field, creating the highly celebrated workshop, Black + Mental Health + Matters which traveled to college campuses across the United States from 2020-2023. She currently leads a dynamic team as Director of Training and Programs at BEAM (The Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective).
Natalie provides diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for major tech companies and creative agencies. She led a world-class team at start-up Dream Project Partners, shaping a vision for rebuilding the middle class in America through de-biasing data, such that BIPOC business owners have access to the capital they need to scale. In 2021, Natalie built a global internal racial equity training platform for Google to support their journey toward an equitable and inclusive workplace.
When Natalie isn’t lending her knowledge to professional organizations, she is tapping into her creative roots in the streets of LA. Natalie co-founded, alongside abstract artist and muralist, Allison Kunath, A Love Language Project, a public art project in Los Angeles using murals to center and amplify Black voices, for the purpose of inspiring meaningful conversation around Black liberation. She routinely hosts talking circles in an effort to foster a greater sense of community and connection.
A nearly native Angeleno, Natalie is known for her integrity, passion, and ability to work with people of all ages, genders, races, and cultures. To know Natalie, and to work with Natalie, is to remember that who you are is enough — that, to Natalie, is where liberation begins.
