Nataki Pettigrew
IWU-National & Global Alumni, Spring 2021
Written by Hannah Hood ‘19
Rosalie “Nataki” Pettigrew’s childhood and life journey shaped her to be an educator. Her parents both retired from careers in education—her father an elementary administrator and her mother a high school math teacher. It seems only fitting Nataki would develop a passion for the legacy her family started.
Today, her professional journey has carried her to a new position at Hamilton Southeastern Schools in Fishers, Indiana, as the chief equity and inclusion officer. She is responsible for developing a plan for equity and inclusion in all of her district’s 24 schools.
“Equity is hard work,” she said. “It takes the academic training that I got from IWU and couples it with empathy and consistent professional development to create a full picture. This is what I want my work to be in the future.”
Her work in equity has given her the gift of honest conversations. In turn, these are moving the needle incrementally toward a better culture inside schools and classrooms, and intentionally painting the portrait of equity.
She’s been there, too—the classroom. Nataki started as an English teacher, working in South Carolina and later moving to Indianapolis Public Schools. She then stepped into school administration.
“Now, working at a district level, I’m finding myself looking at the bigger picture in my school district,” she said. “Moving forward, I think I would like to remain in a central administrative position so I can continue to work toward policies that make positive changes for marginalized students. I want to be a part of the greater culture change that is happening.”
Nataki has completed three graduate-level programs with IWU–National & Global’s School of Educational Leadership, and she’s now a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Education program. Her own continuing journey as a student is part of the plan, not only to fill her toolbelt with resources for training and teaching, but to become the same lifelong learner she hopes to inspire her teachers and students to become as well.
“To see the students that I have taught become great adults with great careers with successful stories—that has been great to see.”
Degree
M.Ed. ‘06, Principal Licensure Program ‘08, Ed.S. District Level Leadership ‘20, and current Doctor of Education Candidate ‘22
Current Location
Fishers, IN
