Community Health of South Florida Inc. (CHI), is proud to announce that Natalie Windsor, a 40-year proven CHI staffer, will lead the health care company’s board of directors as its first female chairperson in the organization’s 50-year history.
“I am very excited about this new opportunity,” said Windsor. “Having served on the board for years and having enjoyed being part of CHI’s decision-making processes, I feel this new role is part of a continued decades-long journey in giving back to the community, something I have a great passion for, and which will only grow through this leadership position.”
Windsor started in 1980 as an executive secretary to CHI Executive Director John Trenholm. Years later she was promoted to administrative assistant by Brodes H. Hartley, Jr., CHI’s CEO at the time.
“I look forward to Ms. Windsor’s leadership,” said current CHI CEO Blake Hall. “She has always been a rich source of information, almost like a CHI encyclopedia and she has demonstrated a strong work ethic and devotion to our organization which makes us the more fortunate for her contributions as the board chair.”
In nearly 40 years of service working on the CHI staff, Natalie Windsor has seen a lot. After Hurricane Andrew ravaged South Dade, and with no electricity, Windsor found herself having to manually type checks on a typewriter in urgent care.
“There were many employees who had nowhere to go after the storm,” recalled Windsor. “It was horrible, yet an impressive time to see how resilient our team was.”
Over the years, Windsor said she witnessed tremendous growth of CHI’s services, programs and centers under the leadership of Hartley and continuing with Hall.
“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 CHI chief of staff, a position she held until she retired in January of 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 as a staff member, I worked for the board. I knew every policy and procedure by heart, every bylaw. I could spout them off on demand.”