Lucia C Rilling
1st Lady of Norwalk CT
As a first generation American, Lucia's parents are from Quito, Ecuador. She was raised in a US military family and by the age of 18 she had traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and within the US states, attending 21 schools before graduating high school. She developed a love of languages, cultures and traditions, and is rooted in family, hope and faith, and possesses a “can do” attitude.
Lucia spent her early career in corporate America, and eventually pivoted into the small business sector, where as an entrepreneur she could apply her own creativity at all levels. After the recession of 2008 she decided to further her education, enrolling full time at Norwalk Community College, graduated with a Medical Office degree and a 3.8 GPA.
As the First Latina- First Lady of Norwalk CT, who raised two sons from her first marriage, she dedicates her time to been instrumental citywide, responding to people's needs, and enhancing vital progress throughout the community.
Lucia serves on various nonprofit boards such as: Room to Grow Preschool, a national Catholic Charities Program to prepare young children entering kindergarten to seamlessly adapt, increasing their educational success as early as possible, Person to Person, a social agency supporting and positively impacting over 25k people and families throughout Fairfield county, assisting in times of critical need, to improve their future, and At the Corner, a Cornerstone Community Foundation, formed to engage and support local youth through community engagement, as well as other civic organizations. Lucia partnered with the Norwalk Health Department to establish “Walk with Us," a Saturday morning public health initiative. She attends the annual US Conference of Mayors in DC, to better understand national efforts and resources that impact our city as it relates to progress. She enjoys hosting the Mayors Ball, an annual charitable event to benefit a local nonprofit. She has been featured in ‘Latin Colors’ 06/2016 edition, and in ‘Norwalk Plus Magazine’s summer 2016 edition. She received the Humanitarian Award from ‘STAR Inc Lighting the Way’ and was recognized by the Connecticut Hispanic Cosmetology and Beauty Chamber of Commerce in 2017 for her unconditional support to the Latino Community. She is Norwalk ACTS TEAM Summer-Ambassador, a community organization addressing the summer learning gap, while increasing communication about how collective impact can improve and enrich the lives of Norwalk’s children. Lucia enjoys mentoring in the Norwalk Mentor Program, a Human Services Counsel program. In support of the Music Theater of Connecticut's “The Voice”, and of the Wall Street Theater’s “DWTS”, she was thrilled to deliver winning performances. During the recent 2020 Census she used her local influence to educate, encourage, and capture a most complete count as possible, in order to maximize local and national financial resources for our city. That same year she also traveled to prairie land Nebraska and Massachusetts while working for the census.
Lucia is grateful to live in Norwalk, where the sense of community is what makes it so special. She thanks her parents and sons for understanding the importance of community commitment. She strives to add purpose and value where it’s needed, and to always represent Norwalk wherever she goes. People often ask, “How do you do it? “, her response, “you just do it.”