Nikki is a Pacific Council Junior Fellow for the Summer 2019 term and works in the Council's Communications Department. Currently, she is pursuing a graduate degree in USC’s Public Diplomacy program and is a Graduate Student Fellow at USC's Center on Public Diplomacy. 

Although she is a Midwesterner at heart, Nikki comes to Los Angeles by way of Washington, D.C., where she had been working at a strategic communications firm. At the firm, she helped provide communications counsel to clients facing legal, regulatory and reputational risks.

Prior to joining the firm, Nikki graduated from American University with a B.A. in international studies and a minor in anthropology. As an undergraduate she gained media relations experience by working with the communications team at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and spent a semester interning at the U.S. Department of State in the Office of the Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs (S/SRGIA). At the Department of State, she supported the office’s subnational cooperation and engagement initiatives. Nikki also spent a semester studying in Istanbul, Turkey.

These experiences shaped Nikki’s interest in public diplomacy and ultimately led her to pursue her degree at USC.