Using her basic science, business, and leadership background, Nicole weaves together her professional and personal expertise across many facets of healthcare, research and administration to advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. She is the Director of Research Operations at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and is a mother to four children; her eldest son has Autism, and her youngest daughter has Down syndrome. As an endurance athlete who has finished over 25 marathons and several ultra-distances (anything longer than a Marathon), she wants all people with disabilities to have equal access to opportunities within their community. Among these opportunities include access to recreational and fitness programs. As a Special Olympics Coach for Cincinnati’s Young Athletes Program, she recognized the disparity in this access within her community. Her project focuses on awareness of community and parent perspectives in developing inclusive programming for people with disabilities. She hopes her findings help bring perspective and awareness of the barriers that keep us from building more robust and inclusive communities than we think and how much closer we are to this goal.
