Cati MacKenzie
Cati is Peruvian born, and raised in Elizabeth, NJ. She started working in New York City at the age of 24, and moved to Brooklyn at 26.
She is most proud of her proactive approach to creating a bilingual home environment for her daughters. Cati feels that this commitment to bilingualism has deepened her understanding of the importance of cultural awareness and language in early childhood development.
Though her background is in post-production, where she honed creative problem-solving and project management skills, along with her work in photography, Cati has found these experiences to be instrumental in an educational context as well. This has enabled her to bring a creative mindset to classroom activities, helping students engage through both visual and hands-on learning experiences.
At OWP, she loves the community’s dedication to nurturing global citizenship and environmental stewardship, values she also holds deeply. The opportunity to help young learners thrive in a bilingual, immersive setting is incredibly rewarding.
Cati is also excited to continue developing her teaching skills and learning from the talented educators at OWP as well. She looks forward to growing professionally, and making an even greater impact on the children and families in our community.
One fun fact is that Cati started a resident-led cleaning initiative on her block! “After having my second baby,” she says, “We would play on our stoop and clean up litter. Slowly we expanded up and down the block picking up cans, bottles, paper, and the worst the never ending cigarette butts all over the tree beds.
A lot of people asked me why I did this and I always answered, ‘Why not? Don’t you want to see a clean street? Wouldn’t you feel much less stressful after a long day of you walked to your apt and the streets were clean?’ A few said thank you. Some asked how they can help and where to donate supplies.”