27 April 2026
Natalia works in human resources for a large international group. As an HR service professional, she knows well how important it is, in a complex organization, that people do not act alone but in collaboration, that they respect one another and take each other’s work into account.
Perhaps this is also why, when we ask her what strikes her most about the Meeting, the first word she uses is precisely this: “collaboration.” Because she, as a person even before being a manager, has always had a strong desire to build something beautiful, to feel useful for the world. “What I see at the Meeting,” she says, “is an event of extraordinary intelligence of reality and openness to dialogue, entrusted to the collaboration of so many people, first and foremost the volunteers.” There is something that goes beyond our abilities in all of this, and it is perhaps the secret, the miracle of the Meeting. “Who would place such a large event in everyone’s hands? Usually organizations tend to protect themselves, to shield themselves from external contributions.”
It is the same logic, she observes, by which the Meeting opens its doors to people of all religions, cultures and backgrounds. And then something remains with you throughout the year. Above all, Natalia says, “it stays with you when you are distracted, tired, or your conscience is clouded. Returning in thought to what I experienced at the Meeting immediately reopens me to the present circumstances.”
Natalia has experienced many Meetings as a volunteer. “I started with general services, then cleaning, public relations, the Villaggio Ragazzi; since 2020 I have been in fundraising. It is a field in which I have learned and continue to learn a great deal. It is incredible to see how many people donate to keep this place of encounter alive. That is how I became a donor myself: because the Meeting must exist. It is a heritage of intelligence and humanity to be preserved… it is a place of encounter and self-discovery that everyone desires, even if they do not yet know it.”
From the 2025 Meeting, Natalia also carries with her visits to some exhibitions. “I think of the one about Amadeo Peter Giannini: there was a panel saying that success is not determined by the amount of money accumulated, but by the positive impact on people. Even just a sentence like this can change your life. The exhibition on Saint Francis, on the other hand, made me understand why, when I volunteer at the Meeting—and it may seem like a contradiction—I feel powerful in serving.” It is a return to the simplicity of the heart, Natalia explains, “as if the heart were waiting to live like in those days, when every time you feel reborn.”
For this reason, she concludes, it is worth supporting the Meeting. Natalia says this as a regular donor, but also as an enthusiastic organizer in her city of Meet the Meeting, the communication and fundraising event for the Meeting held in many Italian cities: “I know my fragility and for this reason, for me, it is crucial that such a place always exists, because here something happens that opens you up to new possibilities, to hope.” Then, in everyday life, prejudice, sterile indignation, and forgetfulness may prevail. But Natalia knows that there is a place—a physical place and a place of the soul—to which one can always return.
