Natalia Eileen Villarmán - Alumnae Profile

Written by Katrina Machetta (C’26); Edited by Basma Enany (W’26)

In 2012, while teaching as part of Teach for America, Villarman facilitated racial justice conversations with her students at a time of social unrest with the murder of Trayvon Martin. These discussions with the students ignited a passion within her for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).

“I realized it wasn't just talking about racial injustice with children, which is what I initially wanted to do. It was also about helping others talk about this and learn about it and recognizing that it was adults too that could benefit from these conversations and adult workspaces that were needing that kind of attention," Villarmán said.

Seeing this lack of spaces to have thoughtful conversations about DEIB and the importance of it in the workplace and community, Villarmán founded Seen@Work in 2020, a management consulting firm that provides DEIB training, workshops, services, and programming to companies “small and large, domestically and internationally.”

As the Founder, CEO, and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategist at Seen@Work, Villarmán oversees a team of DEIB professionals to help clients understand their DEIB needs and goals and works with them to craft unique solutions that can be both relevant and long-lasting.

"What I think is so amazing about being a DEI professional is that diversity, equity, and inclusion are needed in all workplaces. It changes in terms of how it looks, how the business applies concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how they operate with their consumers," Villarmán said.

Villarmán graduated with B.A. in History from New York University, M.A. in Elementary Education and Teaching, and MBA from Wharton in 2020 and has served in various roles before founding her company. 

"For me, a big part of what Wharton did for me was it helped me feel confident in this decision that I was making to go out on my own," she said. "I think initially, before business school and before meeting so many inspiring people, I felt that, you know, maybe I have to wait a few years, maybe there's some more experience that I should get under my belt."

Having experience in roles such as consultant, teacher, leadership speaker, and coach, Villarmán was able to take that knowledge and experience to her current role at Seen@Work.

Seen@Work works on short and long-term projects, and some of their clients include McGOWAN, TEMPEST, LATINXMBA, Columbia Business School (Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics, and Henkel, etc.

The name for her company Seen@Work came by accident, she says, but it truly encapsulates the work they do, the mission of her company, and the goals for the future.

"It's a diversity, equity, and inclusion company, right, and our goal is to ensure that everyone feels and is seen at work," she said. "So it's both the sense of inclusion and belonging, and also this idea of representation, so that we're actually seeing folks at work, seeing a wide breadth and representation at work. So to me, it has that double meaning, and that's all we do. We support organizations and ensure that all of their employees feel seen.”