Historical February–March 2005 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
For the past 12 years, Cecilia Nadal has made her home on 61xx Westminster.
She is an optimistic and buoyant woman who has used her social work training to create companies that held those in need and bring other cultures to St. Louis. Nadal created Productive Futures, a forprofit company, to train the unemployed and to place them in jobs in private companies.
The forprofit element demonstrates that this is a serious business and those it works with must be serious as well.
It says to business customers that this is another business; we know what you need. Nadal founded this business 20 years ago.
It is rated number 1 in the St. Louis area.
The program has been touted in the St. Louis PostDispatch and the St. Louis American.
In addition, visitors from Germany, Australia, and Taiwan have come to observe what Productive Futures does and why it is successful. Eighty percent of Productive Features clients are walkin.
The company has been located for 12 years at 5225 Delmar.
In its 20 years of existence, Productive Futures has served 8,500 people.
The company works with 3,000 companies.
There is no charge to the unemployed who seek services.
There are 14 staff, mostly with a human resources background.
There are two trainers.
Each client receives 80 hours of intensive training. One group served is youthcentered, aged 1921, and primarily high school dropouts.
Her other vocation has slightly different roots. Nadal came to St. Louis in 1968 to attend St. Louis University.
Her mother was AfricanAmerican, her father AfricanPuerto Rican.
He had been in the military so she grew up in a variety of locales.
After coming to St. Louis, she noted that arts audiences were predominantly segregated. What was missing was the art that could draw diverse audiences.
She went to see “Strands” at the Black Rep and met Danny Clark from University City.
He was a dancer and in conversation after the show they agreed about the lack of audience diversity here.
They decided to work together to change this aspect of St. Louis life. Their first major production was Faces of Love at Westport in 1997.
The show featured dances from India and the appearance of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Clark fell victim to cancer and Nadal began to work with Vivian Watt as the artistic linchpin.
They brought the Chinese National Orchestra here and achieved greater diversity among patrons. Nadal works with local ethnic communities in structuring the per-formances she sponsors.
The company name is Gitana Productions.
She also visits the home countries to arrange the programs.
In 2006, she is planning a gypsy festival and is working with Bosnian gypsies now resident in the area.
This production will focus on the gypsy experience in Europe, often a very painful one. Nadal also worked with the Chinese community on the film “The Dance with the Dragon.” Nadal resides with two special dogs.
She is watching the progress of her daughter with great joy.
The daughter, Maria Chapelle Nadal, was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from a University City district in 2004.
A number of neighbors remember her warm personality. Nadal is very happy living in Skinker DeBaliviere.
She calls it a wonderful community.
She loves being close to the park.
She also likes the diversity of our community and noted that you have to fight for that. Our diversity brought her here.
Original photograph caption
Cecilia Nadal.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February–March 2005.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed client youth age1921 has no separator; no precise range restored. Productive Features variant retained against Productive Futures elsewhere.
Original source: SD_Times2005_02.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
