Nicole Heckman in

Nicole Heckman

Login to view DISC.
Vice President, Financial Wellbeing Programs at AARP Foundation
📍 Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Nicole Heckman is a strategic leader at AARP Foundation, where she serves as Vice President of Financial Wellbeing Programs. With a background that includes an MBA, a Harvard Kennedy School credential, and 13 years leading innovation at FedEx, she excels in creating impactful, human-centered solutions. Colleagues describe her as a creative, strategic, and gifted design thinking executive.

Nicole is passionate about driving social change and empowering communities. This commitment is evident in her prior work as a co-founder of an impact-driven innovation firm, where she developed strategies to support immigrant entrepreneurs, grow the artisan economy, and enhance civic assets like public library usage.

Before her focus on social impact, she co-founded and scaled her own successful strategy, research, and design consulting firm, Little Bird Innovation.

Read the full overview →
Experience
24 Years
Current Role
Vice President, Financial Wellbeing Programs
Job Level
Senior
Location
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Personality Overview

How Nicole shows up

Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

Behavioral traits and communication patterns that shape how this person evaluates opportunities, builds trust, and makes decisions in professional settings.

Login to view personality overview.
Priorities

Topics Nicole cares about

Financial Wellbeing
Leads programs at AARP Foundation that help low-income older adults secure employment, access benefits, and strengthen their financial resilience.
Human-Centered Design
A core part of her professional approach, she has a stated passion for using deep human insights to develop strategies and programs.
+5 more topics Login to view topics
Career

Work history

11-2023
Vice President, Financial Wellbeing Programs
AARP Foundation
7-2022 - 11-2023
Vice President, Benefits Access Programs
AARP Foundation
9-2019 - 7-2022
Director, Benefits Access and Food Security
AARP Foundation
6-2019 - 10-2019
Product Management Fellow
Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood Foundation
2015 - 2016
Adjunct Professor
Fogelman College of Business & Economics, University of Memphis
In the press

Media appearances

Nicole Heckman – Hear Our Stories (Gift Planning) – AARP Foundation. Featured in AARP Foundation – Gift Planning
See now
Seniors' benefits are lifesaving. Nicole makes sure they happen.. Featured in AARP Foundation (Gift Planning)
+1 more appearances Login to view media
Education
2020 - 3-2022
Public Leadership Credential
Harvard Kennedy School
MBA
Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

Dominance, influence, steadiness, and calculativeness scores with guidance on how this person prefers to communicate and decide.

Login to view DISC.

Other AARP Foundation Employees

Explore more public profiles from related professionals.

Sarah Sugarman
Sarah Sugarman
Vice President
AARP Foundation
 Leontine Jameson
Leontine Jameson
Project Director, Senior Community Service Employment Program
AARP Foundation
 Aline P. N.
Aline P. N.
Sr. Director, Brand Communications and Marketing
AARP Foundation

More profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker
Strategic Customer Success Manager
Rapid7
 Sherin Breuer
Sherin Breuer
Program Specialist
StartSpace
JD
Jorn Dijkstra
Founder/Director
Powerhouse Wine Company
 James Akil
James Akil
OIEC & Director of Property Management
Holland Price Real Estate
Unlock the full playbookSee exactly how to sell to Nicole. Free, 10 seconds.