Rich Nickel

About Rich Nickel

30+ years in Development, Financial Services, Executive Leadership, and Higher Education,…

Experience

1. President and CEO

   Education Forward Arizona

   Aug 2021 — Present

   I have invested my career focused on helping students and families with financial need achieve their educational goals. For the past decade, I\'ve worked to advance educational opportunity and excellence in Arizona. This has strengthened my commitment to helping transform Arizona’s education system in ways that ensure access to quality education for every student — from early learning to college and career. As a successful edu-preneur, I\'ve helped start and grow successful education nonprofits, including College Success Arizona (CSA), which was focused on helping Arizona reach the state’s attainment goal. While at CSA, I worked with a team of education, policy, and philanthropic leaders to design Achieve60AZ, the state’s postsecondary attainment goal, and to secure key state leadership endorsement. I also helped to accelerate growth and increase the number of students served by the Arizona College Access Network (AzCAN). And, in partnership with ASU, helped to design and win a national competition to launch Ask Benji. This AI-powered technology helps increase statewide rates of FAFSA completion. I invest time identifying and addressing practical and policy barriers to improving education along the continuum by speaking, presenting, and writing about the return on investment that education provides to the Arizona economy, in the media and other public venues. As an executive leader, I\'ve served in non-profit and for-profit roles and created successful public-private partnerships, and have a proven track record in nonprofit management, fund development, board development and nonprofit growth strategies. I am accustomed to achieving bold goals through creative and well-defined partnerships. With roots in rural Kentucky, I\'m passionate about the specific needs of rural students. A facilitator and collaborator by nature, my experience with communities across the state and nation lets me work comfortably and effectively with people from all walks of life.

Education

• University of Kentucky

  B.A.

  1991

• Harvard Business School Executive Education

  Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Management

Skills

• Salesforce.com
• Policy
• Financial Services
• New Business Development
• Marketing Strategy
• Crm
• Change Management
• Strategy
• Project Management
• Recruiting
• Executive Management
• Product Development
• Leadership
• Team Building
• Coaching
• Non-Profits
• Leadership Development
• Key Account Management
• Time Management
• Customer Service
• B2b
• Program Management
• Government
• Direct Sales
• Strategic Partnerships
• Account Management
• Business Development
• Sales
• Sales Management
• Customer Satisfaction
• Public Relations
• Nonprofits
• Call Centers
• Start-Ups
• Entrepreneurship
• Higher Education
• Budgets
• Management
• Training
• Strategic Planning