Lecturer in Real Estate
Lecturer in Real Estate; Executive Director, San Diego Housing Fund
Nicole is a placemaker, entrepreneur, and activist. Dedicated to the creation of beloved, enduring and adaptable communities, she has been a real estate developer and investor leading deals valued between $3 million and $300 million and ranging from very low income to ultraluxury. As founder of White Forrest, Nicole has consulted with large private equity, development and construction companies in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston and Southern California. She began her career with EYA, an early contributor to the renaissance of Washington, DC through urban infill and mixed-income development. While at Clark Realty Capital, Nicole incubated an emerging markets housing finance company that received $70 million in funding from the quasi-governmental agency OPIC to support regional stabilization through the creation of thousands of new homes. While at Clark, she also led strategic partnerships with local transit authorities and the Department of Defense. At Manhattan, NY-based Genesis, Nicole helped pioneer sustainability in affordable housing. She has been a researcher with Harvard Business School's Business, Government and the International Economy department with a focus on new cities in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and India. Nicole currently teaches feasibility analysis and real estate trends and innovations in the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) program at the University of San Diego. She frequently contributes her expertise to nonprofit and civic boards. Nicole is a past member of the Brookline, MA Planning Board, an advisor to the Boston Architectural College, a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and an advisor to Honore Farm and Mill, a regenerative agriculture nonprofit producing heirloom grains. She holds a degree in political economy from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University. Nicole is a Washington DC native and currently resides in Del Mar, California with her husband and three children.