Mi’kmaq Nation (formerly the Aroostook Band of Micmacs)
"The Mi’kmaq Nation was pleased to have Nico and Craig present an equity training for all staff in March of 2022. It was such a success for everyone involved with lots of positive feedback from the staff following the event. It gave staff an opportunity to think about equity in a way that made it more “real” to us through the activities presented and they were especially appreciative of that. We would highly recommend Nico and Craig for any organization."
Dr. Dena Winslow
Tribal Planner
Public Justice
“Nico and her team successfully guided our organization in the development and support of our Strategic Planning efforts. Her expertise was critical since the organization was experiencing a major change in terms of growth, capacity and direction. Nico’s knowledge of strategic planning and staff development played a critical role in helping the staff to navigate issues relating to our overall mission, vision and goals as a national advocacy organization. Her empathy and willingness to discuss and tackle challenging issues through the lens of racial justice as well as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was also invaluable.”
Leroy Hughes, Jr.
Vice President of Operations
AGG Consulting
“The Strategic Nonprofit worked with Nico to learn how to design our product using a framework of equality and justice. We came to her with personal and professional goals we had no idea how to attain. After 6 months of working together, we have the foundation of a very different approach to our product that will, in fact, reach our goals, and we're excited to start building. Nico taught us, challenged us, and nurtured us, all in a warm and safe space. She paced our learning with perfect understanding of when we were ready to move on to new concepts and when we needed more time with concepts we had already covered. It has been exactly what we needed.”
Allison Grappone
Owner
School of Social Work, University of Maine
“At the School of Social Work, University of Maine, our work with Nico began a year ago with her Landscape Analysis of issues of racial justice and equity within the School of Social Work community. Based on her interviews and focus groups with students, alumni, staff, faculty, and supervisors of students in their field placements, Nico provided us with an insightful report of what we do well and where we fall short, laying out a list of recommendations for next steps. She has since skillfully guided us in communicating these findings, soliciting feedback from our community, and proceeding forward in planning and implementing our work toward greater equity and racial justice. Nico does this work through an effective combination of extensive experience, kindness, humor, insight, and strong commitment to issues of equity and justice.”
Sandra Butler, PhD
Professor, Director, and MSW Coordinator
SAFE
"Our board was very conflicted on whether or not to hire a consultant. After working with Nico over the summer I can say that, without a doubt, it was one one of the best decisions we have ever made. Since working with Nico our board culture has improved dramatically. She also helped us become a much more productive, efficient, and mission-aligned organization - and best of all, we have learned how to have fun along the way!"
Marshall Shepherd
Tribal Planner
Grist
“Grist worked with Nico to design a retreat focused on visioning and climate justice. Together we co-created an immersive event that allowed people to use their talents, but also peel back layers of themselves to see anew. Everytime I connect with an attendee of the event, Imagine 2200, they always talk about their individual growth, the creativity infused in the event design, and how memorable the event was.”
Tory Stephens
New England Network Weaver
L.L.Bean Inc.
“Nicola has worked with us in our earliest stages of change efforts around diversity, inclusion and our evolving culture and business. Her role with us has been multiple: strategic thought partner, coach, meaning maker, consultant, designer, educator and facilitator. She brings a valuable combination of characteristics to her engagements: knowledge, experience, empathy, play, discipline, rigor and a perspective that encompasses the whole system we are seeking to influence and change. Her guidance pushes us to identify and anchor all actions in cultural and business objectives. She partners with deep integrity and respect, enabling her to meet leaders where they are while challenging them toward greater growth and development. She actively demonstrates great care for our brand, business and people, as she challenges us to edge forward on this journey toward a clearer path for sustainable success.”
Janice O’Rourke
Senior Leader Development and Organizational Learning
Orton Family Foundation
“Nicola has a true gift for connecting with people and tapping into what connects us as a team. She helped us shine a light on what was working and how together we could lift each other up.”
Alece Montez
Director of Programs
Socially Responsible Agricultural Project
“I had the very fortunate opportunity to have management/leadership coaching with Nicola in my role with a growing non-profit organization. Nicola is brilliant on so many different levels, it's remarkable. Her combination of sensitivity; intuitiveness; passion; work ethic; authenticity; creativeness, intellect, and insightfulness combined with real life experiences, purpose and focus are unmatched. She supported and empowered me to realize my strongest attributes and areas for growth to fulfill an important role for my organization and I believe not only our staff, but the communities we serve are benefiting. She is a true leader with a pure heart that exemplifies the type of person I aspire to be.”
Danielle Diamond
Director of Field Operations
Portland Museum of Art
“At the Portland Museum of Art, we hired Up With Community to help guide our work around Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusivity. Nicola Chin was enlightening, motivating, and uplifting. Her energy, style, and ability to explain complex issues help move us forward as a staff, together. She becomes your mentor, your confidant, and your friend while all the time leading you towards a path that is sustainable and thoughtful. Most importantly, she helps you create a responsible path for your institution to move forward confidently.”
Elizabeth Jones
Deputy Director and Director of External Affairs
ACLU of Maine Board
“I worked with Nicola to design and then participate in a day long bias workshop. She was thorough and probing in her preparation for the workshop, always clear that this was about what we as a board needed and wanted. She was especially effective at flagging issues and places where there were options, and using google docs we were able to keep track of those. On the day of the workshop she easily won the trust and confidence of the board. She uses humor and compassion to put people at ease, yet she also shows up clearly in charge, and with a deep well of experience. Throughout the day she met people where they were, and continually reflected back to us that this was our process."
Susan Bates
Vice President
Maine Mobile Health Program
“Nico has taught our team how to see inequity and to uncover its many layers and dimensions. She has provided our team with a shared vocabulary and skill set to analyze a problem and to turn that analysis into an opportunity to address it. Our team recently took a real-life example from our work and used the structural equity tools Nico offered us to ask the question ‘where did inequity manifest in this situation?’ Once we could identify the variables, it gave us the opportunity to ask a new question: ‘what would equity look like?’ When we could visualize the same situation through the lens of equity, we came away from the exercise with some concrete steps that we could take to our Quality Improvement team with opportunities and ideas for impacting change at a structural level. Not only does this work have the potential to have a positive impact for patients, but it also generates hope among our team and energy to advocate for equity.”
Liz Charles McGough
Director of Outreach and Deputy Director
Maine Conservation Voters/Maine Conservation Alliance
“Your name comes up nearly every day around here. You've had a tremendous influence on the way I do (and think about) my work and you set the standard for facilitation and collective learning. THANK YOU!”
Kathleen Miel
Director of Policy and Partnerships
Mano en Mano
“Nicola has been able to understand our organization, the communities we work, our strengths (!), and our challenges through inquiry, reflection, and asking the right questions. She has challenged us to be our best selves while honoring our identities and values, and helping us build common language around justice and equity in our work and in our communities. She's provided us with tools we can use today at the same time as thinking about the big picture tomorrow. And she's done this while laughing and bringing joy to work that is really, really difficult. It feels like Nicola is actually in this work with us and that our successes are her successes. I appreciate her leadership, wisdom, commitment, courage, guidance, and discipline in our shared work of building community and demanding justice across Maine and beyond.”
Ian Yaffe
Executive Director
Restorative Justice Institute
“Nicola has been phenomenal – helping us rethink our strategic direction, guiding us in strengthening Board leadership, and supporting us with equity training that will help us diversify our Board."
Craig McEwen
Board Chair
Educate Maine
“We worked with Nicola to help us increase our understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion as team. Through exemplary coaching and thoughtful team exercises, we were able to deepen our knowledge as a staff and better understand how we could appropriately support job seekers and employers. Nicola was instrumental in leading us through this work, and we look forward to working with her again in the future.”
Jason Judd
Program Director
Waynflete
“Working with a diverse group of high school age students who are grappling with big questions about race and bias has the potential for explosion. In our afternoon retreat with Nicola, she adeptly taught students big concepts and challenged their assumptions without making them feel defensive. She did not back away from their pointed questions. She would pause--sometimes for a long time--to think before she spoke. I noticed that even some of our most strident students respected her thoughtful approach. Our group moved forward because of Nicola's expertise on the subject and her willingness to put in the time and do the homework needed, so she could tailor the presentation to our specific needs. There was nothing "stock" or gimmicky about our day. It was learning designed for our group at exactly the place we were at and aimed to move us further along our path to understanding.”
Sue Stein
Teacher, RaAW Advisor
Lewiston Housing Authority
“Nicola became the facilitator of the incubator periods, offering constructive feedback on how to structure them to achieve maximum results in a short period of time. Her ability to engage a room of practitioners of different backgrounds, organizational cultures, and program foci was crucial for encouraging inter-agency partnerships. Moreover, she met the challenges of this messy project head-on, adapting her approach and structure of the incubator periods to best meet the needs of both the work group and the training attendees. Her insight, great energy, and flexibility make her the perfect partner for executing change projects.“
Elaine Theriault
Aspirations Coordinator
Educators for Excellence
“Nicola has been an incredible coach and advisor to me and other colleagues of mine through important, challenging, and exciting diversity, equity and inclusiveness efforts. I have learned so much from her expertise, her approach, and her innovative ideas. Her impact and leadership are certainly felt far and wide!”
Megan Riley
Human Resources Manager
The Center for Wisdom's Women
“Nicola’s positive and energetic presence with our Board inspired them in their fundraising efforts. She was able both to validate what they have done to date and coach them in considering additional new directions. She was sensitive to our particular situation which enabled her to be flexible in her approach. In the one hour we gave her, she gave us a day’s worth of ideas and encouragement. We hope to invite her back on a regular basis to check-in on our progress and help us expand our development capacity.”
Klara Tammany
Executive Director
Bowdoin College
“On Monday the faculty voted to endorse a Teach-In for next semester by a 10% margin, so we end on a celebratory note. Many of the conversations about the value of the Teach-In have been related to the need to teach the kind of communication skills that you helped us work on. There's not an office on campus that didn't reinforce how important this was when I talked to them and many individual faculty members emphasized it as well. So thank you for that.“
Madeleine Msall
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Maine League of Young Voters
"Nicola’s exceptional intelligence combined with her fierce hunger for social justice and ability to authentically connect with others makes her not only a powerful leader but an inspiration to be around. She is inherently strategic, and during her tenure as Executive Director of The Maine League of Young Voters consistently engaged these skills to grow the organization, unite the membership base, develop and implement a strategic plan and secure the financial stability of the organization. As former Chair of The Maine League of Young Voters, I was constantly impressed by Nicola’s unique talent, bright personality, and profound ability to inspire and implement positive growth and development."
Laura Snead
Former Chair
Leadership for Educational Equity
“I have worked with Nicola where she has independently created curriculum and where we have collaboratively created curriculum. In both cases, Nicola produces exemplary curriculum that drives toward meaningful implementation of new knowledge, skills or mindsets for participants. When working independently, she thoughtfully probes for the information she needs to create the sessions I had in mind. When working collaboratively, she both leads and follows in a way that produces great work and builds relationship. Nicola is my go-to curriculum developer because she is so effective and fun to work with.”
Brianna Twofoot
Vice President of Diversity and Equity
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