2026 Alexis Natividad
CroatiaFest is proud to feature Alexis Natividad as the recipient of our 2026 Featured Young Croatian Award.
Alexis, currently a sophomore at The College of Idaho, traces her Croatian heritage via her mother’s side to Mrkopalj in the Gorski Kotar region of Croatia.
Alexis joined the Seattle Junior Tamburitzans (“SJT”) when she was six years old. At the age of eight, she was featured as a singing soloist. Alexis spent over a decade performing with SJT as a singer, dancer, and prim player. She performed in Croatian Fraternal Union’s Junior Tamburitza Festivals in Chicago 2016 and in Zagreb 2018.
Although Alexis has traveled to Croatia numerous times, the 2018 tour with SJT was a highlight. Alexis performed in The International Children’s Festival in Šibenik, was interviewed by Croatian Radio, and performed live on HRT’s (Croatian National Television’s) Dobro Jutro Hrvatska.
Another highlight during this trip was watching Vatreni place silver in the World Cup and getting her very own Šubašić soccer kit. Alexis played eight years of select soccer as a goalkeeper, including three years as a high school varsity starter and was selected for the ECNL All-Regional Team Northwest. Her favorite goalkeepers are Šubašić and Livaković. Alexis currently plays goalkeeper for The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho.
In 2024 Alexis joined Tamburaški Orkestar Kišobran, the youngest former SJT member to do so. Her family rewarded her musical dedication with her very own prim from Zagreb. With Kišobran Alexis has performed at CroatiaFest, Kavana, Balkan Night Northwest, and the Tamburaški Orkestar Kardinal Stepinac 40th Anniversary Celebration in Vancouver, B.C.
“I am so honored and thankful to receive this recognition. When I first joined the SJTs at 7 years old, I never thought it would become such a big part of my life. Through the group, my family and my travels to Croatia, I’ve learned so much about my Croatian heritage, while making lifelong memories along the way. The Croatian community has shown me more love than I could have ever imagined, and I feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of it. I will forever be grateful for all my experiences and the friends I have made over the years with the SJT’s and Kišobran.”
Alexis has always shown a deep appreciation of her Croatian heritage throughout her life. Her passion and incredible knack for learning foreign languages has stood out while studying Croatian and Spanish, as well as teaching herself Korean, Chinese and Tagalog. Alexis is currently majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Spanish. She plans on attending the University School of Croatian Language and Culture, Hrvatska Matica Iseljenika Program, in the summer of 2027.
As a talented Dean’s List Scholar Athlete, Alexis is destined to achieve every goal she pursues. We congratulate Alexis on this well-deserved award.
CroatiaFest is proud to name Alexis Natividad as the recipient of the 2026 Featured Young Croatian Award!
Alexis, currently a sophomore at The College of Idaho, proudly traces her Croatian heritage through her mother’s family to Mrkopalj, in the beautiful Gorski Kotar region of Croatia.
Throughout her life, Alexis has demonstrated a deep appreciation for her Croatian heritage and a genuine commitment to learning more about her family’s roots.
Croatian Ambassador to the United States, Pjer Šimunović will present the award to Alexis at CroatiaFest on October 4th at the Seattle Center Armory.
Read Alexis’s full biography on the CroatiaFest website www.croatiafest.org.
