Nicole Ellis is currently an ELL teacher and teacher-leader at Lincoln High School in Des Moines. She has helped to curate a rigorous newcomer ELL program at Lincoln and will help to open the same program at North High School during the 2018-19 school year.

She is also currently enrolled in Drake University's Educational Leadership - Principal program. Nicole hopes to become a transformative high school principal within the next 5 years.

Nicole's central area of interest includes the application of systems-thinking to the urban setting in order to create more equitable instruction and curriculum that contribute to the success of students well beyond their high school education.