Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal | August 22, 2022 | wbjournal.com Natalia Oliver, 39 Chief of staff City of Fitchburg Residence: Leominster Birthplace: Montevideo, Uruguay College: Mount Wachusett Community College 4 0 U N D E R F O R T Y Paulino provides community leadership, preservation of Latino culture, and mental health care, all through one medium: dance. A dancer for 17 years, she has trained in ballet, flamenco, Latin jazz, modern, and folkloric Latin dance, as well as psychology and social work. Her goal is to elevate the Latinx community through education and the arts. In 2011, Paulino took over as director of Ritmos Dance Studio, where she had been a long-time student and was teaching dance starting at age 16. She oversaw Ritmos' relocation to its own location on Webster Street early on in her tenure. In 2020, she con- verted Ritmos into a nonprofit and is committed to offering affordable dance instruction and performance opportunities to the Latinx com- munity in Worcester. Paulino is passionate about dance as a mental health care tool and is a registered dance therapist. Her work has earned recognition from Latino Dollars for Scholars, Amplify Latinx, the City of Worcester, and the state. Beyond that, she is a deeply respected champion of Worcester's Latinx community, which makes up roughly a quarter of the city's population. - K.H. Would you prefer to live on the equator or in Antarctica? The equator, because I love the ocean. I would spend my days floating on the sea, dancing with the waves, and drinking margaritas. What is the best location in Central Mass.? Downtown! It's close to my favorite spots; Nuestra, the Jean McDonough Arts Center, and city hall, where I have numerous performance memories. Who is most responsible for the person you are today? My parents, as a first-generation daughter there's nothing like witnessing immigrant parents maneuver obstacles on a daily basis to instill drive. Masielle "Massy" Paulino, 31 Executive director Ritmos Dance Studio, in Worcester Residence: Worcester Birthplace: Brooklyn, N.Y. Colleges: Dean College, Worcester State University, Springfield College, Antioch University PHOTO/ERIKA SIDOR Photo shoot at Nuestra, in Worcester's Bull Mansion (special thanks to Natalie Rodriguez) Oliver arrived in the U.S. at the age of 21, bringing only a suitcase from her native Uruguay. Now, at 39, she holds one of the top jobs in Fitchburg, a city of 42,000. In addition to her job with the city, Oliver is mother to two girls, attends college full time at MWCC in Gardner, is an active volunteer with the United Way of North Central Massachusetts in Fitchburg, and chairs Fitchburg's annual Civic Days celebration, a week-long series of events bringing together North County communities during the week of the Fourth of July. She is set to graduate from the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Institute in 2023. In the past, Oliver worked for Leominster office furniture manufacturer AIS, which employs 600 people locally, where she served as manufacturing support and a technical writer, and used her gift for communication to give tours of the facility to VIPs. Oliver credits her hard work and dedication in helping her to balance all these parts of her life. She defines her life with one word: determination. - T.D. What four people would you take on a 10-year, deep- space mission? My daughters and my mother What will Central Mass. be like in 10 years? A destination for arts and culture What is the key to your success? Belief in myself What person would you like to meet in the next 15 years? The president of the United States, who hopefully will be a woman

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