Meet
Nichole
I have spent my career doing work that matters — and learning what it actually takes to lead it well.
Career Journey
I moved to Columbus in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Development and a licensure in alcohol and drug treatment and prevention. Earlier in my career I had the privilege of founding a high school for youth in recovery in Minnesota and serving as Director of a Juvenile Drug Court in Wisconsin. I didn't know yet exactly what my path would look like, but I knew what I cared about.
I began my nonprofit career at the United Way of Central Ohio, then moved into institutional advancement at the YWCA of Columbus. In 2008 I became President and CEO of The Women's Fund of Central Ohio, a public foundation working at the intersection of gender equity, economic security, and policy change. A decade of work grounded in the belief that systems change, research, and the strategic power of philanthropy are among the most significant drivers of a mission's momentum.
In 2018 I stepped into the role I hold today - President and CEO of Flying Horse Farms, an Ohio-wide (and beyond) nonprofit providing life changing camp experiences for children with serious illness and their families. What this work has confirmed is something I've carried through every role: that leadership and personal clarity of values don't reset with each new chapter. We carry them forward. We add to them. Every experience builds on the last and it is a privilege to lead a mission for the sake of the people it serves, alongside teams of remarkable humans who show up every day with purpose and care.
My coaching work is a natural continuation of all of it. As someone who has always believed in creating safety for women, for youth, for the communities our missions serve so that people can show up as their full selves, it mattered to me to offer others what others offered me at pivotal points in my own career.
The coaching practice is where that intention becomes intentional work.
Beyond work, I live in New Albany, Ohio with my husband Michael, of twenty-five years. Our daughter, Abigail, and son, Henry, are both navigating their college years, both finding their own next chapters. And then there’s Mojo, our Wheaton Terrier; eagerly at the ready to go to camp, on a car ride, a walk, or settle in with me for a work day.
My Personal Compass
Grounded In
Strengths Finder
Relator
Arranger
Maximizer
Achiever
Significance
VIA Character Strengths
Gratitude
Leadership
Zest
Honesty
Teamwork
Hope
Love
My work is informed by:
Standford d. School
My process is human-centered and iterative. We design toward clarity the way a designer approaches a problem, starting with what's true rather than what's supposed to be true.
EOS Practitioner
Warmth without rigor isn't enough. EOS gives the work operational backbone, so insight becomes systems, and systems become sustainable.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Safety isn't a nice-to-have. It's the prerequisite for honest work. Every session is designed to create the conditions where truth can surface without cost.
FEBI Certified
Understanding how leaders direct their energy and attention and where that creates strength or quietly costs them.
Yale · Science of Wellbeing
Evidence-based practices that sustain the leader not just the performance. Flourishing is a leadership outcome, not a luxury.
Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy
A deeper lens on values, wealth, and impact makes conversations about purpose and philanthropy more strategic and intentional.
Awarded Most Admired Executive · Nonprofit Executive of the Year · Smart 50 Honoree · Forty Under 40 · WELD Honoree
This work is taught from the arena. I'm not a former leader. I'm a current one navigating the same decisions, the same pressures, and the same stakes as the people I work with.
My Philosophy
The leaders who do it well aren't the ones without doubt or pressure or competing demands. They're the ones who've built enough self-awareness and enough trusted relationships that when you know something more is possible, they notice it early, name it honestly, and move toward it instead of around it.
That's not a personality trait. It's a practice.
And it's one that can be built intentionally, with the right kind of support alongside you.
This is the moment we get honest - and everything changes.
My approach isn't a framework you apply. It's a conversation you enter. We start with what's actually true for you - not the version you've become good at presenting or is simply comfortable - and we move from there. Toward clarity. Toward values-aligned decision making. Toward shared accountability. Toward the kind of trust that makes organizations move.