From Reddit RoastMe to Read About The Director: Meet Nichelle Nicole, Founder of Heart & Logic Foundation

Before launching a nonprofit addressing the ethical blind spots of AI, Nichelle Nicole did something few founders would: she posted herself on Reddit’s RoastMe. Not out of vanity—but as a live experiment in feedback, social perception, and the limits of human-to-human empathy. That same curiosity, combined with her background in systems thinking and large-scale events production, now fuels the Heart and Logic Foundation—a nonprofit built to defend the human layer in an increasingly automated world.

Nichelle began her career in the federal government, where she worked as a program analyst and led digital transformation initiatives. But she didn’t just manage shifting technology—she predicted the deeper, more permanent restructuring long before it made headlines. A full year before widespread displacement began, she recognized the cascading impacts automation would have on the public workforce. That foresight led her to begin studying business formation, future-of-work strategies, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and oddly art as a blend to make high impact solutions.

With a dual passion for systems and experiences, Nichelle had also spent years producing events—designing spaces where people could connect, feel seen, and be transformed. That background helped shape the urgency behind Heart and Logic: to bridge the disconnect between developers and the communities affected by their tools, and to create future-proof human skillsets that machines can’t emulate.

While Heart and Logic operates as a nonprofit, Nichelle also leads development of adjacent tools—AI ethics frameworks, certifications, and decision-making models—that align with the organization’s mission but exist outside its formal programming. Together, these efforts form a holistic strategy to ensure humanity isn’t just included in the future of work, but centered in it.

Nichelle isn’t just responding to the wave—she’s helping people learn to swim through it, and to lead with joy and purpose.