With over twenty years of experience in the fundraising field, Nicole Harris joined ASAS ready to develop, expand, and fund quality after-school programs that serve students throughout New Jersey.

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Nicole has such vast experience after serving as the Community Engagement Manager at Uncommon Schools – North Star Academy (NSA) where she led the advocacy and fundraising efforts to grow the network from seven to fourteen schools. During her time at NSA, she was the lead external relations team manager responsible for funding media, advocacy, and outreach initiatives. She founded Community Academy – a school for adults offering free GED training and testing support in addition to college and job readiness support. Ninety percent of graduates from Community Academy have gone on to enroll in college and have secured sustainable employment. Nicole is also the co-founder of the Hands Off Our Future Collective – a mix of parents, teachers, and ed-reform organizations that shape state-level advocacy strategies and legislation.

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Prior to that position, Nicole served as the Annual Gifts Officer at Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation, where she developed annual giving programs, implemented donor cultivation systems, and maintained relationships with individual, corporate, and foundation supporters in order to maintain an $18 million annual budget. Her work in cultivating and growing donors allowed the hospital to continue medical and rehabilitative treatment for children at no cost to their parents.

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Nicole’s love for fundraising is deeply rooted in her commitment to the educational, emotional, and physical development of children, specifically in underserved areas. As a native New Yorker, and once an “inner-city kid,” Nicole has a personal connection to the effects of generational inequality, and a personal commitment to developing the supports to help end the cycle of inequality and ensure children in underserved areas are afforded the resources that will help them reach their fullest potential.

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Nicole is a wife, mother, sister, and friend. She and her husband have opened their home to raise several children and help put them on a path to success. She and her husband, along with their three children reside in Roselle, New Jersey.