Natalie Joy Kee Samaco, OPC Public Relations Director

Natalie Joy Kee Samaco is a Filipina Canadian entrepreneur, researcher, storyteller, and advocate for immigrant women’s leadership. As a group home operator, she leads multiple care homes supporting persons with disabilities through partnerships with Assisted Living Alberta and private care. She also serves as a yoga instructor, integrating wellness, mindfulness, and community connection into her work.

Alongside her entrepreneurial work, Natalie is a first-generation Filipina Canadian, mother of five, and a Master of Arts in Leadership student at Royal Roads University. Her research explores how foreign-trained Filipino women reclaim their professional identities and navigate pathways to leadership within Canada. Her thesis, Reclaiming Leadership: Filipino Immigrant Women Navigating Barriers and Building Pathways in Canada, centers relational leadership, belonging, and cultural identity, and is grounded in partnerships with community organizations.

Raised by immigrant parents from the Visayas, Natalie witnessed resilience shaped by faith, family, and community—experiences that continue to inform both her business and research. Returning to school alongside her children, she brings lived experience and academic insight together to challenge traditional Western notions of leadership and amplify the voices of immigrant women as leaders in their own right.

Natalie is passionate about creating spaces where women can reconnect with their identity, share their stories, and step into leadership in ways that feel authentic and culturally grounded. She believes that leadership is not defined by position, but by how we care for and uplift one another—and that it is never too late to take a chance on yourself.