Natalie Windsor Becomes First Female Chairperson of CHI Board of Directors

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Natalie Windsor, veteran CHI staffer becomes board chair

In nearly 40 years of service working on the CHI staff, Natalie Windsor has seen a lot. She was here after Hurricane Andrew ravaged South Dade.

“There were many employees who had nowhere to go after the storm,” remembered Windsor. “It was horrible, yet an impressive time to see how resilient our team was here at CHI. I had to manually type checks on a typewriter in urgent care because there was no electricity and the staff had to get paid.”

Windsor was recently voted in as Chairperson for the Board of Directors at CHI—the first time a woman has held the position in the organization’s more than 50-year history.

“I am very excited about this new opportunity,” she said. “I’ve served on the board now for years and enjoyed being part of the decision-making. I feel like I’m giving back to the community and that’s a great feeling.”

Windsor started at CHI in 1980 as an Executive Secretary to the Executive Director John Trenholm. Years later, she was promoted to Administrative Assistant by Brodes H. Hartley, Jr., the CEO at the time.

Over the years, she witnessed tremendous growth in CHI’s services, programs and centers under Hartley’s leadership.

“It was great to be part of the growth phase and know that we were expanding our reach to help even more people,” said Windsor.

Eventually, Windsor was promoted to Chief of Staff, a position she held until she retired in January 2018.

“I took a year off. But then I had to return,” joked Windsor. “Then I joined the board and that was surreal because for years in my role as Chief of Staff, I worked for the board. I knew every policy and procedure by heart, every bylaw. I could spout them off on demand!”

CEO Blake Hall said he looks forward to Windsor’s leadership. “Ms. Windsor has always been a rich source of information, almost like an encyclopedia on CHI,” said Hall. “She has demonstrated strong work ethic and devotion to CHI and we are so fortunate to have her still involved as the board chair.”