Nichole McGill-Higgins

Nichole is an award-winning campaigner, coach, consultant and motivational speaker on race equality and inclusion. She is the founder of diversity and inclusion consultancy, Changez.Life, which focuses on belonging, equality, equity and behavioral change via a coaching and co-creation methodology. She is also an Associate Consultant for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.

Nichole was named ‘Campaigner of the Year 2020’ by The Baton Awards for her outstanding contribution to racial equality, working with young people and organisations. Commended for her work tackling oppression, aggression and prejudice in the workplace, she is dedicated to rooting out injustice, becoming the voice for those who may not have the courage to speak for themselves and exploring intersectionality. Nichole was also celebrated as National Mentor of the Year by the National Mentoring Awards in 2019.

As a positive disrupter, Nichole uses coaching and design-led thinking methodologies to help organisations experience their own awakening, changing hearts and minds. Nichole led the CIPD’s internal Race Review project, assessing whether the professional body was dismantling or upholding racial inequality in response to the murder of George Floyd. As a critical friend, she oversaw the content produced by the CIPD to support people professionals in tackling racism and racial discrimination in the workplace.

Nichole is a trustee for Rape Crisis Centre (RASASC), a South London charity, focusing on anti-racism and transgender rights. She leads their D&I strategy, underpinning the support offered to survivors, employee engagement and corporate governance. Other previous voluntary roles include Trustee for the Croydon BME Forum and founding Co-chair of EmbRACE, the CIPD’s employee resource group dedicated to educating colleagues about race and opening up difficult conversations.

Nichole is a global keynote speaker at events which focus on racism and the uncomfortable truths which surround it. Through her authentic storytelling in a direct, jargon-free tone, Nichole wins over audiences and organisations – encouraging everyone to take responsibility and action for diversity and inclusion. As well as speaking at events, coaching and consultancy, Nichole delivers training sessions, designs immersive workshops and implements inclusion strategies to drive racial equality and inclusion for employees and employers.