Changing communities,
changing lives.
Natalia Brook, President and Director (Outreach, International)
Natalia's family comes from a long line of teachers. At the time of her birth her grandmother was a director of a High School and taught literature and language arts. Her grandmother launched on a journey that was highly controversial at the time, by teaching her two year old granddaughter Natalia, passages from classical masterpieces by greatest poets. At three years old Natalia was reciting poetry by classics. By four she was making her grandmother's students chuckle as she read pieces of classical literature from their textbooks, thus motivating them to do their homework
Her own thrilling childhood memories of early learning and discovering, as well as dissatisfaction with the fact that many other children were not given a chance to learn due to various socio/economic limitations or lack of resources or even social stigmas that "education is not for them", so motivated Natalia to spend the last 15 years being involved in providing educational, social, motivational and recreational programs for children from underprivileged families, orphans, as well as physically challenged children around the world. "Giving children a better childhood, granting children a better chance…" was one of her mottoes over the years.
Natalia also played an important role as an independent international humanitarian aid consultant for various educational and charitable NGOs, who appreciated her expertise through the charitable work she was involved with in the developing world.
She worked as a program coordinator and consultant for the Ukrainian Ministry of Family and Youth, and in Family and Youth Division of Kiev Area Administration. She organized and participated in the seminars for orphanages, administrators and teachers; organized programs for large families and underprivileged families different countries, including parenting resource seminars, early learning, and stress counseling.
Her other areas of expertise are: working with large families; post-traumatic stress counseling for youth and children in war zones or after natural disasters; social rehabilitation of youth delinquents; work with children and families with special needs or under special circumstances; organization of language & culture learning camps for children and youth; gifted youth programs; and international humanitarian aid.
Natalia has firsthand experience working and living in over 16 countries.
Natalia got married in 2004 had a daughter 2009 and two sons: in 2010 and 2012. She has since gotten more involved with providing resources for future parents on the topics of pregnancy, birth and early infancy, as well as early education for babies and toddlers. Her first child, Sofia, learned to sign, talk and recognize written words by her first birthday. Sofia's brothers followed her in her footsteps. All of them became avid readers and learners.
It is Natalia's dream to provide the gift of early literacy and learning opportunities to children around the world, regardless of their socio/economic status, nationality, religion or creed. To give children the best possible start, and to broaden their spectrum of possibilities and visions is her upmost dream.
