
Joellen Nicholson
Joellen has over 18 years experience building shared value partnerships across sectors focused on inclusive value chains. She has led marketing programs, partnerships, plus sustainability, and social impact initiatives with leading brands like the Gap, Disney and Macy’s.
As the Director of Programs at the nonprofit Nest, she supported business growth and social compliance for over 100 global MSMEs, with on-the-ground projects in India, Guatemala, Haiti, and Namibia. She also launched Nest’s Maker’s United program in Birmingham, AL, a multi-stakeholder initiative that galvanized local, regional, and national resources to support the entrepreneurship and small business development for an inclusive US-based maker’s ecosystem. In addition, Joellen co-founded basik 855, a social venture that developed a new co-creation model with Cambodian artisans. As an advisor to start-ups and NGO’s, Joellen consults on business models and program strategies that incorporate social impact and sustainability.
Joellen is a pro-bono advisor to Animaná | Hechos x Nosotros, a non-profit NGO with UN consultative status, that is advancing sustainable fashion in LATAM and inclusion of MSMEs. Joellen holds an MSt in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Supply Chain Management and Marketing from Michigan State University.