Founded by an innate desire to elevate the human experience in the workplace where all people can thrive.

Nicole Smart is the founder and principal of Smart EDI Solutions, LLC. As a courageous and studious champion for change, Smart supports organizations by providing strategic guidance, best practice recommendations and data-driven solutions to power up diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives to achieve optimal business results.

Throughout her 15+ year career span, Smart has evolved within a variety of roles that helped build upon her professional expertise within diversity, equity & inclusion, global human resources, labor relations and leadership development. She has led, managed and facilitated strategic, operational and cultural objectives for national and global organizations such as the National Football League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

In her previous role, Smart became the first-ever diversity director for Actors’ Equity Association, where she led their objectives for greater inclusion and diversity within the union, and the broader professional live theater community, by developing and implementing strategies, integrating diversity initiatives into campaigns and programs, collaborating with HR business partners and executive leadership to develop diversity recruitment strategies, and new programs, events and processes to foster an inclusive culture throughout the organization and 51,000+ membership. Under her leadership, Smart was also successful in launching Equity’s first set of employee resource groups.

She is currently on the advisory board for Cornell University’s Sports and Entertainment Executives, executive committee member for NYU Alumni in Arts and Entertainment Network, and board member/professional development chair for the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) NYC Metro Chapter, where she has successfully implemented events beyond the scope of core programming such as Dine and Learn and Financial Fitness signature events. She also served in previous roles as executive committee member for the NYU Women’s Initiative, and as vice president for the NY Chapter of the National Association of Black Sports Professionals.

Smart received her B.S. degree in Leadership and Management Studies with a concentration in Organizational Management and Development from New York University and a masters in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is also a certified talent optimization consultant for Predictive Index (PI).