Join us virtually via zoom as Montgomery County District 6 Councilmember Natali Fani-González shares a deep view into her role and work.

Councilmember Fani-González was Nature Forward’s 2020 Naturally Latinos Keynote speaker while she was serving as Vice-Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board. Now in her new role as District 6 Councilmember and Chair of the Economic Development Committee, she will share some of her recent and current work which includes passing the forest conservation law, working towards a more climate resilient county, and safer road for pedestrians and bicyclists.  

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Natali Fani-González brings deep local government experience and a strong background on economic opportunity for all to the Montgomery County Council. Until August of 2021, Natali was the Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board, the local agency that regulates real estate development, plans transportation infrastructure, and manages the park system. During her seven years on the Planning Board, Natali was a key player in supporting the growth of the County’s life sciences sector through master plans in the Great Seneca Science Corridor, White Flint, and Bethesda. With a particular focus on addressing the needs of small, local, and immigrant-owned businesses, she also helped steer the County Growth and Infrastructure Policy, Veirs Mills Corridor Master Plan, Montgomery Hills/Forest Glen Sector Plan, the MARC Rail Community Sector Plan, and the Bicycle Master Plan, among many others.  

Prior to her service on the Planning Board and starting her own business, Natali worked for the regional immigrant group CASA, where she successfully fought for the Maryland DREAM act, banking services for the unbanked and other local and state policies to uplift low-income communities.   

Natali arrived in the United States as a teenager with her mother without being able to speak English. Nevertheless, she committed herself to her education while working weekends cleaning houses with her mother. She won a full scholarship to Goucher College, where she was awarded degrees in political science and international relations. She served on the Goucher College Board of Trustees after she graduated. She knows from experience the struggles good, hard-working people face trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.   

Washingtonian Magazine honored Natali as one of the “40 Under 40” Changemakers in the Washington DC Region and then named her as a “Woman to Watch.” She is a 2021 Recipient of a State Citation by Governor Larry Hogan for community efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic helping vulnerable communities. The DC metro area’s largest Spanish language newspaper, El Tiempo Latino, recognized Natali as one of the 100 most influential individuals for the DC Hispanic community. Natali lives in Wheaton with her husband, a former United States Marine, and their children.