Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Delille.
Hi Natalie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We could walk through my upbringing in the melting pot of New York City, growing up with strict Haitian immigrant parents and five siblings in a 1200 square-foot apartment, or the day-to-day experiences of being a young Black woman in corporate America.
But I’ll start with a few words I came across years ago that embody the character I want to exude for my entire life. Quoting Maya Angelo, “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
Life is exhilarating if you choose to do more than simply exist. This is driven by whatever you want to be or do, which can be manifested in many different ways. I’ve chosen to show up every single day and live my life to the fullest. Whether that’s through traveling, spending time with friends, or taking risks and going after what I want, I have made a commitment to myself to show up unapologetically. When I am old and gray, I want to look back at my life and know that I instilled this greatness in others, teaching people that they too can live a beautiful meaningful life no matter the difficulties life brings.
I am resilient. I persist(ed) in the face of hardship and adversity. My purpose in life is beyond just me. I want to leave this earth knowing that I made the world a better place.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into your story – it seems like it hasn’t been an easy path overall, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When we look at many of society’s practices, it is clear that there are tons of issues caused by systemic barriers that often impact me simply because I am a black woman. And where I’m from. Because of this, I will always have to work harder to fully walk in my success.
I wasn’t born with accessibility to an Atlanta condo. Or anything close to it. From an early age, I was forced to be self-motivated and self-sufficient. I have flashbacks of working 30 hours a week at the age of fourteen years old while balancing school work and extracurricular. When I went to college, I had no clue how I was going to finance it. Every semester, I scrambled to figure out how I was going to pay my tuition. The fact that I graduated on time and wasn’t kicked out is truly a miracle. Without my experience at Howard University, I do not think I would be where I am today. This experience directly inspired the existence of my non-profit, DearSociety.
Being raised in a first-generation family forced me to be my own cheerleader. To a certain extent, my success did not completely resonate with my parents. Of course, they were proud to see me graduate, but my parents didn’t understand what an honor it was to graduate Magna Cum Laude or how much of an honor it was to obtain an internship every summer. I spent years trying to explain what my accomplishments meant and realized that I could have easily gotten away with simply graduating and staying out of trouble. My choice to go “thrive” and go above and beyond was self-motivated and I learned to celebrate myself. As a child, I needed more affirmation, emotional support, and encouragement. I am happy that I didn’t quit and kept my ambition and passion at the forefront of my rigor.
A few years ago, I was forced to learn the importance of rest and breaks due to extreme burnout. I was unhappy with my health, I was unmotivated to accomplish any tasks, and began to ‘skate’ through life, doing the bare minimum just to get by. Unfortunately, being born into a family of low socio-economic means, I was forced to be an ‘overachiever’ by taking advantage of every opportunity because I didn’t want to miss out on something great. One thing that I’ve learned is that balance is key.
Challenges are meant to be met and overcome. No one is exempt.
Thank you for sharing! – So what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Growing up, I wanted to be an actress. I performed on many stages and directed and produced a few shows.
A year ago, someone asked me “How much money would you have to have in order to go back to pursuing a career in acting?” I struggled to put a dollar amount to a response. I thought about it for a couple of hours to then realized that I actually wouldn’t prioritize pursuing an acting career in the future, no matter how much money I had. And that is when I realized that I found my purpose in life.
I now know that I found my calling in philanthropy and social impact work. My non-profit, DearSociety stands on the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to have access to a fair education. Our focus is helping economically disadvantaged youth find opportunities to move themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty through access to academia, mentorship, and scholarship. This past year, 21 students residing in Jeremie and Port-Au-Prince, Haiti received scholarships to cover their school tuition. Over the next couple of years, DearSociety hopes to expand its impact by providing more resources to students and partnering with HBCUs to sponsor students’ college education here in the US.
I am currently studying the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence in society. Human beings have cognitive biases and unfortunately these biases impact the way we innovate. Even so, I truly believe the potential for using artificial intelligence for good in society is limitless. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more deeply integrated into our lives, there is more opportunity to pivot and think about using AI for more good in the world.
I’ve come to understand the need for investment in human lives and how philanthropy does make a difference in them.
I deeply appreciate all the resources and mentorship that has led me to this point.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
The most popular definition to the word luck is “success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.”
So what is the role of luck? Luck does not exist independently. Not for me, and not for anyone else – no matter what circumstances they’ve been dealt with. I would like to address that the following is true – access to resources is highly favorable to achieving success and tends to ignore the well prepared but deprived of resources, assuming those with more access are more competent and deserving.
But the truth of the matter is nothing beats hard work. There was a Roman philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca who said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” We each have the option to forge our own luck. We can choose to create and pursue opportunities. We can choose to listen to our intuition and make great decisions. We can also choose to adopt resilient attitudes and have a positive outlook on life. Most of the time, there is a silver lining to all situations.
Having a positive mindset and attitude to attain the things that I desire has resulted in favorable situations for me. Practicing healthy habits and holding myself accountable for my actions is key. For example, I often ask myself “Do my actions from today align with the goal and vision I have for myself in the future?” If the answer is no, then how could I possibly attain the things I want in life?
Good fortune comes from having a good and optimistic attitude. David Schwartz once said, “we don’t become successful simply through luck. Success comes from doing those things and mastering those principles that produce success.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dearsocietyorg.com/theactioncall
- Instagram: Personal: @Nata.rella + Nonprofit: @dearsocietyorg
