Nicole Hamilton

Nicole Hamilton (she/her) is a radical educator, trainer, curriculum designer, youth worker, circle keeper, and community builder. Nicole, who is also the Founder of Culturvate Consulting, believes that working in close partnership with schools and organizations builds the trust, transparency, and accountability needed to do the hard work of shifting culture. Nicole brings over a decade of experience in direct service provision from her roles as a Program Director of a multi-site after-school program, Director of School-Based Programs and Partnerships, and a teacher. In her work, she has supported the positive transformation of organizations, programs, and schools by leading staff and young people towards a common goal of creating a safer, more equitable, and affirming anti-racist and inclusive culture.

Blending the disciplines of circle-keeping and coaching, Nicole focuses on laying the preliminary groundwork of shifting hearts and minds through the development of critical consciousness to co-create environments that are prepared to embrace the principles of culturally sustaining restorative practice. Nicole works in collaborative partnership with schools and organizations to create pathways leading from punitive, racial, and gender-biased disciplinary practices towards methods that are more restorative, trauma-informed, and culturally affirming. Through experiential modeling, development of personalized tools, and coaching administrators through the processes of building infrastructure, providing meaningfully resonant professional development, and leadership capacity building for all stakeholders through circle-keeping and restorative practice, Nicole mobilizes partners to engage in initiatives that engage all stakeholders in cultivating the sustainable practices needed to create lasting changes. Nicole holds a bachelor's degree from NYU and a master’s degree in Youth Studies from CUNY.