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Ambassador & Advocacy Partnerships
Growing nuclear's next generation — in person, on campus, and in the community.
Why This Matters
Most students have never heard anyone make the case for a nuclear career directly to them. That's the gap this work closes - for the parents, counselors, and educators who sense the opportunity but haven't had the full picture, and for the students who just need someone to point at it clearly.
It's also the gap your organization is quietly absorbing the cost of. Industry associations, employers, and workforce partners feel the pipeline shortage first - in open reqs, aging teams, and the slow realization that awareness alone won't fill the gap. Bringing this message directly to campuses, conferences, and communities is one way to move the needle, not just discuss it.
The nuclear energy industry directly employs more than 70,000 people - a number that climbs to 250,000 when secondary jobs are included. And it's not just nuclear engineers. The industry recruits from universities, community colleges, the military, and the trades, hiring electricians, welders, pipefitters, and heavy equipment operators; accountants, communications specialists, cybersecurity specialists, project managers, and policy analysts; and technicians, health and safety specialists, and engineers of every kind. A student doesn't need a physics degree to build a career here.
Nuclear engineer, nuclear power reactor operator, and nuclear technician also rank among the top five highest-paid careers across the entire electric power sector, out of 101 occupations surveyed - and nuclear construction hiring is projected to grow 9.2%, the highest of any fuel source.
The jobs are there, across far more paths than most people realize. Someone just has to openly present opportunities.
(Sources: NEI, "Jobs"; DOE 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs Report)
More Than One Conversation
A campus visit, a conference keynote, an internal training program - these look like separate services, but they're the same work seen from different angles. The real value is in the connections between them: knowing which school, which association, which employer, and which program should be talking to each other, and making sure they actually do.
That's the role this work fills - not just delivering a message, but making sure the right people are in the room to act on it.
Ways to Engage
Track Record
None of this happens alone. Every campus visit, every partnership, every conversation is possible because of a network built over years - one that makes it possible to connect the right people when it matters.
Recognized by the Industry
Nicole's advocacy work is grounded in standing relationships with the organizations shaping nuclear's workforce conversation - American Nuclear Society (ANS), U.S. Women in Nuclear (U.S. WIN) and WiN Global, and North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NAYGN).
Trusted with a Seat at the Table
Beyond membership, Nicole holds active leadership and advisory roles: Ambassador and Volunteer with the National 4-H Council, Associate Board Member for Native Nuclear, and an active voice within the nuclear industry on various Workforce Panels and Task Forces including the South East Nuclear Energy Council (SENEC), E4 Carolinas, and the East Tennessee Economic Council.
In the Room, Not Just on the Roster
This isn't affiliation for its own sake - it's ongoing, hands-on work: campus visits across universities, high schools, and middle schools; public speaking for industry associations including Virginia for Nuclear, Nuclear Business Innovation Conference, U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, U.S. Women in Nuclear, ANS; and contributions as a workforce subject-matter expert for industry publications.
