Natalie Hinds is world class in and out of the pool. Born and raised in Midland, Texas. Standing at 6’2 with a bright smile, booming voice and bubbly personality, she’s easy to spot and difficult to forget. As one of the nation’s best sprinters, Natalie competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials, followed by a brief retirement before coming back reignited in the fall of 2018 with her sights set on qualifying for the 2021 Olympic Games.
Natalie grew up in Midland, TX, where she was one of the top recruits in the nation coming out of high school for the class of 2012. She committed to the University of Florida and graduated as a 20x All-American sprint specialist. Being one of the few Black swimmers at the US National and Olympic caliber level, Natalie is a leader in the swimming and sports community.
In 2015, Natalie made history alongside Lia Neal and Simone Manuel, becoming the first trio of Black swimmers to go 1-2-3 in a single event at the NCAA Championships. That historical moment in Natalie’s career became the turning point for her to bring awareness and create educational opportunities to the sport of swimming.Â
After retiring in 2016, Natalie worked for Turner Media for two years until she felt a yearning to return to the pool and realize her full potential. Her comeback lead to her being a 2021 USA Olympian and Bronze Medalist. Today Natalie is an accomplished speaker, using her platform to share her inspirational comeback story. In 2020, Natalie turned her long time passion of designing custom tapestry into a successful business by launching, Loominary Design.
Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. We challenge the death penalty and excessive punishment and we provide re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated people.
EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. We are committed to changing the narrative about race in America. EJI produces groundbreaking reports, an award-winning calendar, and short films that explore our nation’s history of racial injustice. And in 2018, we opened the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice as part of our national effort to create new spaces, markers, and memorials that address the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation, which shapes many issues today.
EJI provides research and recommendations to assist advocates and policymakers in the critically important work of criminal justice reform. We publish reports, discussion guides, and other educational materials, and our staff conduct educational tours and presentations for thousands of students, teachers, faith leaders, professional associations, community groups, and international visitors every year.
