Dr. Nicole Caridad Ralston is the Director of Education and Programming at Beloved Community where she develops and facilitates core content on diversity, equity, and inclusion for a wide variety of audiences. She is an award-winning higher education student affairs professional and is devoted to creating communities that center and uplift the most marginalized populations. In her career in higher education she developed retention and community engagement initiatives, built social justice education programs, taught courses on the white savior complex, and led the undocumented student support committee. Nicole’s doctoral research focused on how women of color in senior leadership roles in higher education navigated multiple intersections of identity and systems of oppression on predominantly white campuses. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor at The University of New Orleans where she teaches, “Diversity in Higher Education” in the Educational Leadership graduate program. She is also a graduate of the Social Justice Training Institute, 4.0 Schools Essentials, and the Progressive Change Campaign’s Candidate Training. As a volunteer, she serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Louisiana, and Success Preparatory Academy at Thurgood Marshall. Nicole also chairs various committees for the New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Azucar Ball. In her free time, she enjoys sharing her New Orleans food adventures on her Instagram food blog, @eatenpathnola and serving as a doula to local moms.