Natalia Galvan is originally from Chicago, but now considers herself very much a Hoosier, having lived in Indiana now for most of her life. After leaving Bloomington after undergrad, she returned in August 2017 to volunteer in Liz Watson’s IN9 Congressional race, along with some other state and local races, and is now very committed to working on progressive issues, working in Latino communities to build power, establishing an infrastructure to encourage college students to vote, and volunteering on local races and Democratic statehouse races in all corners of Indiana, primarily focused on helping progressive candidates. She was impacted by her time as a volunteer for IU Dance Marathon, raising money for Riley Hospital, and believes in trying to make the world a little better than how she found it.
Natalia is a local organizer and activist, and her work with the Golden Bicycle Climate Change Movement in Bloomington motivated her to campaign and organize for progressive candidates in both her county and city. Natalia successfully recruited over 52% of the precinct committee seats to be filled by students and BIPOC residents who filed to run and won their precinct committee seats in 2022. In May of 2023, Natalia’s efforts contributed to a successful slate of progressive candidates winning the majority in the Bloomington Common Council and her work helped make history as the first woman of color won a seat on the Bloomington City Council as well. In Spring of 2024, Natalia was part of a victorious effort where a political newcomer upset an incumbent Monroe County Commissioner with over an 11% margin in a three-way race.
Natalia also serves on the Indiana Democratic State Central Committee as one of two representatives for the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus and engages with counties all over the state in order to best advocate for Latinx issues, as well as organizing and assisting with voter registration drives and voter turnout and helping with outreach on college campuses. Natalia is a Class 3 Alumna of the Hoosier Women Forward Program. She also serves on the executive board of both the Monroe County National Organization for Women, Indiana National Organization for Women and Big 10 Voting Challenge Steering Committee. She is a member of the local NAACP and steering committee member for the Monroe County Health Equity Council. She is a Senior Partnerships Success Specialist with Action Network/Action Builder.
Her favorite quote is one by Dr. Seuss. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”