Draft:Natalie Mitchell Coles

Natalie R. Coles is an American executive and fundraiser. She serves as the Senior Director of Midwest Development for The Obama Foundation. She is responsible for raising the money to build and endow the Obama Presidential Center along with other priority programs of President and Mrs. Obama from donors in the American Midwest.

Early Life and Education

Coles was born in Columbus, OH, to a family of modest means. She is the first person in her immediate family to attend college, having received her undergraduate degree in African American and African Studies from Ohio State University. She attended OSU on a full-ride scholarship that was awarded to her based on her activism around equity and equality in high school. She went on to secure a Master's Degree from Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Natalie was a runner-up in the Miss Black Ohio pageant.

Career

Following graduation, she worked in Marketing for Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), supporting such labels as Arista, RCA, Jive, and Bad Boy Entertainment. At BMG, she helped launch and market artists such as Pink, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, and Outkast. She credits her time in the music industry as the business where she learned to "hustle" and find solutions to any problem. She has commented publicly that she left the industry after attending an industry party that "didn't align with her values."

Following her time at BMG, she briefly worked for Victoria's Secret Stores before moving to the non-profit industry. She worked for such organizations as the Girl Scouts, United Way, and The United Negro College Fund. Natalie served as the Vice President of Development and Government Relations at Wilberforce University, the oldest historically black college in the nation. In this role, Natalie tripled the fundraising budget in one year and raised the money needed for the school to maintain academic accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.

Natalie began her tenure with the Obama Foundation in May 2023. She works closely with the Foundation's Executive leaders and the President to secure the funding needed to launch the Obama Presidential Center and ancillary programs.

She is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). She was featured in the March 2014 issue of Glamour Magazine for her work with the "Lean In" movement.

Personal Life

Natalie married Derrick Coles in December 2003. They have three children: Angelina, Christopher, and Alexander. She credits her Christian Faith as a driving force in her life and is an award-winning polo player. She is the first Black woman to serve as President of the Bexley Library Board of Trustees and the first Black Woman to serve as President of the Bexley Women's Club. She is a Board Member of the ACLU of Ohio.

References

https://apnews.com/article/hbcu-philanthropy-corporate-donation-900fe45a9db7c63ba51a563b20be385f

https://centralohioafp.org/member-spotlight-natalie-coles/ https://www.anheuser-busch.com/newsroom/anheuser-busch-donates-153651-to-support-united-way-of-central-ohio https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliecoles/ https://bexley.org/blackhistorymonth/ https://www.glamour.com/story/taylor-swift-march-cover-inter