Nichole is a masters candidate at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs concentrating in International Media and Communications.

She is originally from San Francisco, California and also lived in Hong Kong, where she attended Hong Kong International School. She studied Economics and International Relations at Brown University, and then moved to Miami, Florida, where she worked at a law firm, and later at Ocean Drive Magazine.

In 2004 she joined the Peace Corps with her husband, Mark, and they were posted in Benin, a small country in West Africa between Nigeria and Togo. Nichole served as a rural community health volunteer, working in AIDS education and on projects that addressed malaria and malnutrition. She also started a French radio show to discuss these topics in an interactive public forum.

Nichole was editor in chief of SIPA's newspaper, Communique, and spent her summer interning at CNN in Los Angeles. After SIPA, Nichole plans to pursue a career in journalism.