Nicki Nee: The Essence of Empowerment

Nicki Nee has always had a knack for identifying pain points. 

In fact, she’s made a career out of it. 

She completed her undergraduate work in nursing and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health. 

She’s always worked in care management, she said. Her current position focuses on providing holistic healthcare solutions to people in rural communities. 

Care management is all about connecting patients with the right source of care at the right time, Nicki told TeamWomen. 

Essentially, it’s empowerment— Empowering patients to advocate themselves and deepen their understanding of the complex health world with education and resources. 

“That’s the essence of care management,” Nicki said. 

And yet, Nicki felt something was missing. 

A year ago Nicki had what she called a reckoning with her work. She found herself deeply introspective about what kind of legacy she was leaving–

How am I providing value? How am I impacting the people around me? 

In search for the answer, she revisited her values. 

And then she did what she does best. 

She found the pain points. 

This time, it was in the coming-of-age growing pains young girls experience.

“I knew I wanted to help young girls foster their leadership skills and support their mental health,” Nicki said. “I see so many kids struggling with this coming out of the pandemic.” 

Nicki had previously coached for Girls on the Run— a nonprofit that integrates running, creativity, and teamwork to boost girls’ social, emotional, and physical skills— her first foray into empowering young girls to build their confidence. 

Empowered to Empower

Nicki first joined TeamWomen in September 2023, and while she loves the variety of opportunities the organization provides to women from all backgrounds, her purpose within TeamWomen was immediately clear: The Empower Leadership Academy. 

The Empower Leadership Academy’s mission is simple: Inspire, develop, and empower the next generation of leaders.

“I knew right away I wanted to be a coach,” Nicki said.

Katy Burke, Executive Director of TeamWomen, encouraged Nicki to do just that. 

“Katy helped me right along that journey,” Nicki said. 

In January, Nicki started attending the Empower Leadership Academy events regularly to get the training to become a coach. 

And, as it often does at TeamWomen, the momentum only continued to grow.

Now an Empower Leadership Academy coach, Nicki also worked on the committee for the Annual Leadership Conference in May of 2024. 

By the spring of that year, Nicki and a few other TW members were deep into revamping the curriculum for the Empower Leadership Academy program. After each event, the curriculum team compiled feedback from the girls who participated, parents, and the hosts, and poured what they learned back into the course. 

As a group, they thought very intentionally about what leadership truly means and how to convey that message to young women in a relatable way. 

“We wanted the girls to learn what type of leader they are in their own life,” Nicki said. 

Thanks to the work of Nicki and the Empower Leadership Academy coaching team, the Empower Leadership Academy’s mission is the same: Empower, inspire, and develop. But the curriculum offers a revamped, holistic approach to fulfilling that mission centered around four key pillars: 

1. Leadership: Teach every girl to be a leader. Help each girl discover her strengths and values and nurture the universal skills necessary for leadership. 
2. Confidence: Teach girls how to develop patterns of positive self-talk, identify and take ownership of their strengths, and nurture their budding feelings of positive self-worth. 
3. Resilience: Encourage and educate girls to be tough and courageous in the face of adversity. Leaders have the grit to tackle tough situations and obstacles confidently. 
4. Wellbeing: Teach girls about a holistic approach to physical health by helping them understand the connection between their body, mind, and spirit. Mindfulness, movement, healthy relationships, and community involvement are essential elements to their well-being. 

Seeking Strength

The coaching team decided to include the DISC Assessment For Youth in the Empower Leadership Academy so that the girls could identify their strengths. 

It can be awkward to talk about your strengths— no matter your age. 

But that’s what Nicki loves about it. During the events, the girls are separated into small groups and encouraged to talk about their strengths. She admits it can be a quiet conversation at first. 

“I love to start throwing ideas out— are you good at doing your nails? Making new friends? Math? Making cookies? Anything!— and then they can start to relate and say, ‘Oh yeah!’” Nicki told TeamWomen. “It warms my heart to see them opening up and identifying all these positive traits in themselves.”

Sometimes all the girls need is a coach like Nicki to show them the way. 

That’s the essence of empowerment. 

Learn more about the Empower Leadership Academy here.