Nicole Etchart is co-founder and board member of NESsT, an organisation that invests in and provides tailored business support to social enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet. As CEO for 27 years, Nicole led the organisation's strategy, growth and impact worldwide including investment in a diverse portfolio of high-impact enterprises through its acceleration programme and impact first funds. She led the replication of NESsT to 12 emerging market countries, investing over US$27 million to train 35,000 entrepreneurs and grow 245 social enterprises directly impacting 1,700,000 excluded and marginalised people.
Before founding NESsT, she launched several social impact organisations and was the first executive director of the Association for Women in Development and Director of Global Education for CRS. Nicole is the author of numerous publications, guides, cases, modules on social entrepreneurship and impact investing. While at NESsT, she spearheaded the organisation’s transition to gender-lens investment. She currently serves on the board of AIDA and was formerly on the Executive Committee of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).
Throughout the course of her career, Nicole has been widely recognised for her remarkable contributions to impact investing and social entrepreneurship. She was awarded the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was recognised as an Avina Foundation Fellow and Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. She is also a recipient of the Presidential Fellowship award for “fast-track” public leaders. She has an MA from the Johns Hopkins University, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA from Tulane University.
