Nicole Baker Fulgham leads strategy and operations on the K12 Education team. Nicole also works across the organization's grant portfolios to maximize support to organizational leaders and to expand our grantmaking to Black and brown leaders. Nicole's work focuses on some of our larger place-based grantees to support the integration of place-based and programmatic work and to facilitate cross-team learning and synergies across portfolios.

Prior to joining Schusterman, Nicole was the founder and president of The Expectations Project, the nation’s largest network faith-motivated public education equity advocates, numbering more than 46,000 individuals. Immediately prior, she coached CEOs of national organizations around strategy, management and DEI at The Management Center. This built on her work, over the course of a decade, as a key member of Teach For America’s leadership team, where she held several Vice President positions including Faith and Community Relations, Teacher Training and Support, and Research and Evaluation. She began her education career as a fifth grade teacher in Compton, California.

Nicole has authored several books and articles about the intersection of education equity, advocacy and justice. She received her B.A. from The University of Michigan and her Doctorate in Education Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles. She sits on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is deeply committed to the role of faith communities in justice and liberation movements. Nicole is an active member of several African American women’s organizations that promote community empowerment.