My Story
Founder and CEO, Nicole Yearwood has been involved in government and community relations professionally since 2000, when she began working for her local county executive. Her activism, however, began years before, in the early nineties, as a sophomore in college, when the New York State governor threatened to cut funding to the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). Not long after she was voting age, Nicole understood how elected officials have an impact on our daily existence in ways in which we are not always aware.
As a result, she changed her major, deciding to obtain a Master of Public Administration degree, and enter the field of government and politics. Nicole became active in student government, a leader of student-run entities, and was a student representative on university boards until she obtained her graduate degree. She has volunteered and worked on several city, state and national political campaigns. In 2004, Nicole was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Subsequently, she worked in Philadelphia for Pennsylvania's coordinated campaign. For almost nine years, she was Director of Government Relations for a non-profit that provides free programs in all five boroughs of New York City. Because of the relationship between voting and the decennial census, she took a position with the US Census Bureau to ensure a complete and accurate count of historically hard to count communities. Nicole has trained hundreds of volunteers and been a resource for her colleagues on the subject of working with elected officials.
Over the years, she has developed many strategic relationships. She has acted as a government and community relations consultant to various organizations and businesses, assisting them in navigating city government. Nicole has always been civic-minded and is involved in several organizations serving her community, alma mater, and the city. She truly believes that civic participation empowers communities and is inspired by the John F. Kennedy quote, "One person can make a difference and everyone should try."