Nicole Baker Fulgham

Nicole Baker Fulgham is the Chief Impact Officer at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. Nicole serves on the executive team where she co-manages the organization and heads the Impact and Operations team. Nicole leads organization-wide measurement, research, and evaluation projects related to effective grantmaking; ensures grantmaking reflects our commitment to racial, gender, and economic equity; and manages the systems and processes to support grantmaking, programs, and convenings. Her team’s work ensures grantmaking has the greatest possible impact by facilitating organization-wide learning, and knowledge management, beyond the grant capacity support, supporting leaders and grantees of color, and effective grantmaking practices. Additionally, Nicole’s team leads the organization-wide work on racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

Prior to joining Schusterman, Nicole was the founder and president of The Expectations Project, the nation’s largest network of faith-motivated public education equity advocates, numbering more than 46,000 individuals. Immediately prior, she coached non-profit CEOs on strategy, management, and DEI at The Management Center. This built on her work, over the course of a decade, as a cabinet-level member of Teach For America’s national leadership team. She began her education career as a fifth-grade teacher in Compton, California with Teach For America.

Nicole has authored two books and several articles about the intersection of racial equity, advocacy, and justice. She received her B.A. from The University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Education Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served on the board of several non-profit organizations. Nicole is deeply committed to the role of faith communities in justice and liberation movements, as well as the collective power of national African American women’s organizations.