Nicole Lessard is an experienced consultant with expertise in program development, research, grant writing, and strategic communications. Since 2020, at FFF, she has led various data and research efforts, authored Community Assessments and Change in Scope Requests, and secured baseline and competitive Designation Renewal System (DRS) grants for Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start programs.

Working in the field of early childhood education for twenty years, Nicole has worked in preschool and kindergarten classrooms and held policy and communications roles at the Massachusetts Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and Early Education and Care. Her contributions included working on finalizing the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, launching the state universal pre-kindergarten pilot, and managing early childhood programs focused on early literacy, learning environments, mental health, accreditation, and alignment of services across the birth-to-school-age continuum.

Nicole holds a Master of Education in Educational Counseling from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.