Dr. Nicola Blake is an accomplished leader with over 23 years of experience in instruction, academic administration, and institutional advancement at both four-year and community colleges. Notably, she played a pivotal role in launching and building Guttman, New York’s first new community college in over four decades. In this groundbreaking position, Nicola led collaborative efforts to establish a student-centered and equity-driven environment, significantly improving retention and graduation rates by removing barriers to completion. Internationally recognized for her expertise in curriculum and program development, Nicola participated in the US Fulbright Specialist Program from 2015 to 2020 and serves as an accreditor for the New York State Education Department and the New England Commission on Higher Education. Nicola’s achievements include being a recipient of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellowship for 2016-2017, an alumna of the Higher Education Leadership Programs for Women (HERS), the Harvard Institute for Higher Education, and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Future Presidents Institute. In 2023, she was named to the prestigious Complete College America Fellowship Program.