In Episode 119, Natalia Villalobos, VP of Inclusion at The New York Times, joins Melinda in a transformative discussion on ways to empower individuals to be agents of change within organizations. They delve into the importance of active listening and learning about the workplace culture to understand the change model before taking action. They explore creative and practical ways to collaborate as a team on solutions to drive meaningful change together. They also discuss how leaders can give people grace throughout the change process by cultivating a learning-oriented workplace culture and providing support and resources to help everyone navigate the change.
About Natalia Villalobos (she/her)
Natalia Villalobos is the first Vice President of Inclusion Strategy & Execution at The New York Times. There she is responsible for the DEI strategy for 5,800+ employees within the US and internationally.
Prior to joining The Times, Natalia was Google's "Feminist-in-Residence" leading internal and external global diversity programs. She created Women Techmakers, Google’s outreach program for women in technology. Natalia also led DEI for Developer Relations, Google’s outreach organization for developers.
She believes in meeting and listening to users where they are with an empathetic, human-centered yet data-focused approach. Natalia has applied her background in civil rights and social movements to the tech industry where she is a recognized leader in gender equality and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) broadly.
Natalia has been featured in USA Today, CBS News, Newsweek, Inc. Magazine, BBC, Business Insider, and more. She has enjoyed speaking at Stanford, Harvard Business School, SXSW, Tech Inclusion, among others. She is currently on the board of Micro and the Tribal Link Foundation.
In 2010, Natalia founded 300 Acres, a digital storytelling campaign that went viral to save 300 acres of the Ecuadorian rainforest for the Quichua people. Prior to Google, Natalia had a successful career as a Community Manager for Yahoo!, Digg, The Institute for the Future, Get Satisfaction, The Seasteading Institute, and StyleMob. As a public face and voice for companies, and as a conduit for global online/offline communities, Natalia was an effective advocate for products and experiences totaling 400M+ users.
For educational resources and highlights from this episode, visit https://empovia.co.
Connect With Natalia On Social
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/natalianvillalobos/
Twitter: twitter.com/nataliaenvy
Connect With Us On Social
YouTube: youtube.com/@empovia
Twitter: twitter.com/empoviaco
Facebook: facebook.com/empovia
Instagram: instagram.com/empovia/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/empovia/
Production Team
Creator & Host: Melinda Briana Epler
Co-Producers: Renzo Santos & Christina Swindlehurst Chan
Podcast Rocket: Rob Scheerbarth & Nina Rugeles
[Image description: Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Natalia Villalobos, a mixed-race White-presenting cisgender woman with long wavy brown hair, gold dangly earrings, pendant necklace, and button-up blush shirt; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with