Natalie Jacobsen is the Marketing and Communications Director at Airlink. Jacobsen’s call to activism started when she was nine and saw Hurricane Mitch ram Honduras on TV. When she asked how she could help, her mom said, “Speak up.” Jacobsen gave a speech at her school and saw donations pour in to support communities affected by the disaster.

Since then, she has pursued telling stories that inspire action and change. After graduating, she moved to Asia, where she worked in education, journalism, television, and marketing. As a journalist, she conducted investigations and reports on government, education, travel, lifestyle, human rights, and more. As a photojournalist, she captured rallies and protests, festivals and cultural events, and the rebuilding of northeast Japan after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Today, as a director in the nonprofit sector, she drives impact through thoughtful, inspiring communications. Her transition from journalism to activism materialized while residing in Charlottesville, VA, and seeing the communities not just in need of a voice, but an advocate. In her spare time, she speaks on panels and volunteers with campaigns to help elect future leaders. She was a marketing manager at Tom Tom Festival in Charlottesville, then a senior marketing manager for over six years at the Combined Federal Campaign, a government-overseen workplace giving campaign contracted by Global Impact, in Washington, DC.

Jacobsen’s educational background includes creative writing at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, a Georgetown University political science program, New York Film Academy in Kyoto in partnership with TOEI Studios, NGen’s Leaderosity and the Self Aware Leader program, and the University of Oregon. Jacobsen’s work in journalism, marketing, and creative writing are award-winning. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Natalie Jacobsen grew up in Oregon and now resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband. She published her first novel, GHOST TRAIN, in October 2024 with SelectBooks. In her spare time, you can find her wandering greenhouses, boarding planes, volunteering, and attending festivals.