Nicole’s Biography

Nicole is a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Social Work (MSW), a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), and a Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies. Her career began in child welfare, and over the past 11 years she has worked in the gender-based violence (GBV) sector.

Nicole brings experience across multiple levels of practice in the sector, from frontline advocacy that ensures survivors of gender-based violence can access their legal rights, to community-based research and education, to policy analysis and reform. Central to her work is the intersection of gender-based violence and disability, a lens she brings through both professional practice and lived expertise.

Nicole has also served as an expert witness in a civil lawsuit and has appeared as a witness before the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.

“It is imperative to not only recognize and understand the multiple, intersecting systems that oppress women, but it is equally, if not more important to highlight the ways in which women resist oppression. We need to centre strategies of resistance to create opportunities for survivors to confidently exercise power in ways that shift how people, including themselves, think about violence against women.”