Build Up Omaha Award Spotlight:Natalie Simmonds

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We are excited to announce our first award winner for our event in November.

Natalie Simmonds is founder and senior writer at dotted i writing services, LLC. She is an avid writer and is passionate about issues of social justice and disability rights. Dotted i helps a variety of nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions through grant writing and management, fundraising, and public relations. Natalie currently works with organizations focused on serving people with disabilities, at-risk youth, low-income seniors, survivors of trauma and exploitation, and organizations that enhance the lives of individuals through music and arts education. She also works with international humanitarian organizations that provide health care and relief efforts.

Natalie graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 2000, with a double major in English and Communication. She has extensive experience in marketing, public relations, community outreach, writing, and nonprofit partnership campaign development and leadership. She worked as an account manager for a Boston area public relations firm specializing in the arts and nonprofits during 2000 and 2001, and served as Director of Marketing for Simmonds Restaurant Management, Inc. (SRM) from 2001 to 2007. In her role at SRM, Natalie developed and led many successful nonprofit partnership campaigns, including BK Beat Cancer For Kids, which raised over $1,000,000 for pediatric cancer research. She was awarded the Nebraska Restaurant Association Neighbor Humanitarian Award in 2006. In 2012, Natalie earned her master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). She currently serves as the secretary of the Omaha Mayor’s Commission for Citizens with Disabilities (MCCD), secretary of the board of directors of Kicks for a Cure, and as a member of the Marian High School Alumni Board.

The individual who nominated Natalie had this to say about her “I consider Natalie a good friend because she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone working in and supporting nonprofits in Omaha. She is also passionate about telling her story and helping others who struggle with mental and behavioral health concerns. She focuses that passion in a nonpartisan way on the Mayor’s Advisory Commission for Citizens with Disabilities and is working to uncover and combat workplace and higher education discrimination in mental and behavioral health. Natalie is also a constant in the Omaha community as part of the Simmonds Family Foundation in their support of organizations and events for the nonprofits that are making a difference in the lives of all Omahans!”

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