Faces Of NPR showcases the people behind NPR--from the voices you hear every day on the radio to the ones who work outside of the recording studio. You'll find out about what they do and what they're inspired by on the daily. This month is special – we are featuring HBCU alum at NPR for Black History Month. Today, we have Nikki J. Jones, VP of Change Management and Transformation.
The Basics:
Name: Nikki J. Jones (She/They)
Title: VP of Change Management and Transformation
HBCU: Coppin State University
IG Handle: @Nikjjones
Where you're from: Baltimore, MD
You are the VP of Change Management and Transformation. Can you tell me why this role is crucial, and why it's crucial for NPR?
Change is hard. It's a hard concept, whether it's in your work life or your personal life. And I learned that throughout my entire life, coming from the upbringing that I've had growing up in Baltimore. And I learned how to accept change, not to run away from it, understanding that change comes with a lot of uncertainty and a lot of fear.
I ended up here and doing this for NPR because I felt that was lacking within the organization. But also to provide that empathetic ear and that human centered approach to my colleagues to help them understand and represent any change, but also to own the change as well.
I saw that you have a background in tech. Is this job related to tech at all?
It depends. My actual background, believe it or not, was political science. And that's where I got my undergrad at the HBCU that I attended. Social science and political science, although I started off as a comp sci major because I knew I always wanted to get into tech, but fear. I freaked out when I learned about all the math classes that I would have to take. So I switched majors. But with me doing all of that political science and working with the National Recycling Coalition, I never lost my love of tech, so I ended up leaving that job, getting into tech.
While I was technical, I never really followed the waterfall approach, which is a pretty archaic way of project management. I was always agile before I even knew what that word meant or what that methodology was. I was always looking for a quicker path for me and my team, me and my developers, having their voices heard, empowering them.
So I guess you could say for me, change management and transformation can be seen from a technical perspective with a human centered approach. But I use my technical background to get from point A to point B, and I think that's because tech is my love, tech was my passion, and I was doing change management back when I was in tech. I don't know if a lot of other people would see it the same way.
It seems like, even though you may not have had that title, the job role was always right in front of you.
So why did you choose to go to an HBCU?
There were a multitude of reasons. I'm trying to think of the main one. I always felt the need to learn more about my people and where I came from. And growing up, I went to a predominantly white elementary school. And I had a great time. But my mother gave me extra homework like, 'oh, we're going to watch this movie called Roots.' Or, 'here's Sidney Poitier and this is what this actor did for our community. And here's some books. Let me read them to you.' You know, so I always got that extra knowledge from home. But the older I got, the more I was like, 'why am I not getting this in school?' You know, this history is just as important, if not more important, because this country was built on the backbone of that. So when it was time for me to pick a school, I just naturally gravitated towards the HBCUs. I knew that I was going to get a top notch education. However, I wanted that community. I wanted to be embedded in the culture that an HBCU provided for me.
So overall, did you enjoy your experience and do you feel like you were well equipped when you graduated from Coppin?
Absolutely. I'm actually pushing my daughter and niece to look at HBCUs. It was one of my best experiences. I'll never forget my freshman year, sitting in the yard and randomly the fraternities and sororities came out. Like, oh my gosh, this is just like School Daze. It's everything I imagined an HBCU to be, with its flaws, let's not get it twisted. But it was everything that I wanted it to be, and it absolutely, one hundred percent equipped me for the real world. I was one of those kids that did luck up with a full time job fresh out of college. Actually, a semester before I graduated, I had a full time gig lined up. This is how I ended up in the D.C. area.
That HBCU taught me that my voice was just as important as everyone else's. It empowered me to be confident in my intelligence and my womanhood and everything that there was about me, so that when it was time for me to get into the real world, I was ready. You know, there was fear. I mean, the fear is natural, right? There's no getting around that. But the first time I went to a meeting, sitting in a conference room, I had things to say. It didn't matter that I was the only Black woman in that room. I didn't care. And I believe it was in part being raised by a single Black woman who wanted the best for her kids, and giving us that courage and that self-importance and all of that stuff that she did for my sister, brother and me. But also, an HBCU, like, come on, you're about to take over the world, own it. So, yeah, I was so ready.
So at NPR, do you always feel, as a Black woman, you have had the proper resources to complete your job?
Yes and no. There are leaders at NPR that are extremely transformative. Regardless of race, they're all about fairness, inclusivity, giving you the tools to build your toolkit, in order to be a success. Absolutely, yes.
Like everywhere else, there is a flip side. And there were obstacles that I felt like I had to face differently than non-minorities, that I was treated a little bit differently than others.
But again, the experiences that I've had at my HBCU and within my career taught me how to overcome that. And there are leaders at NPR that absolutely have my back. And they were the stepping stones, they were that ladder to help me get over that flip side. So I don't want to say that I didn't have the tools as a Black woman at NPR to build me up for success, because I did, but I will say that some of those tools were really hard to find.
I agree with you. I think at NPR, you can definitely find allies here.
I found more allies here at NPR than any of my other jobs. So there's that.
So this next question is a bit personal and you don't have to answer, but I'm genuinely just curious. I notice that you go by she/they and I'm curious because people announcing their pronouns is fairly new. So I just wanted to know, how did you feel empowered enough to start doing that?
So I am absolutely gender nonconforming and have always been, from a baby all the way up to now. I identify as a woman, but I do not conform to what is expected of me as a woman and I never did. I grew up with a lot of pressure to be a wife and to be a mother, to dress a certain way, to act a certain way, but I refused on purpose to conform to their beliefs of what a woman is supposed to be or do. So when it came time for us to put our pronouns out there, it didn't even require a second thought for me to put she/they or to ask people to refer to me as them. My husband got it. He gets it.
You know, and gender nonconforming is doing things purposefully. Like, my mom raised us – again, I'm always going back to my mom – but my little brother was seven years old when he figured out he wanted to be a fashion designer. He went to FIT. He was phenomenal. But my mother fostered that love of fashion design. She bought him Barbie dolls because he asked for them, and he played with them and did their hair and all of that. By the same token, she bought me fire trucks, because that's what I wanted. So she was always an advocate for us to be comfortable in our own skin, and to be who we are. So I think it was having that upbringing, to show no shame and to speak for yourself and to feel empowered to be who you want to be, made it easy for me to go to she/they.
I love that, I love that it sounds like, you know, a lot of people when they think about like, 'oh, I know my mom loved me because she took care of me,' but it sounds like you knew your mom loved you because she gave you freedom and she gave you the opportunity to choose who you wanted to be and didn't put you in a box. And to me, that's the purest form of love. Thank you for sharing that and for leading in that.
You know, it was NPR who actually helped give me that push too. That really awesome training that we had, Andrea Mares Flores-Marquez led it. And she went through all of the definitions with GNC and everything else, and I was like, 'Woo, that me. That's me.' And then I did my own research. You know, like, 'wow, how I am and who I am is real. It is a thing.'
Your work is very instrumental in helping teams develop and elevate. But I want to know who's doing that for you. Who's helping you develop and elevate?
Debbie Cowan, our CFO. John Lansing, our CEO. I have one-on-ones with him, and it is so empowering to speak candidly with our CEO, knowing that it's a safe space. And Natasha Desjardins. I cannot forget about Natasha!
My team elevates me every single day. Wanda, Sarah, Tracy, Bradley, Stephanie and Louisa, they elevate me. They make me want to be a better leader. I want them to be my boss one day. I want to work for them all, every single one of them. I would gladly work for them.
I made some fabulous connections in Digital Media. One isn't at NPR anymore. Her name is Boomie Odumade, and she elevates me every two days, like clockwork, you know? But there are still those in Digital Media that I look for and look up to and learn from.
And you Sommer! You elevate me. I love your courage and your strength. I love that. I love that! Yes, this is what we need in our younger generation, courage, saying 'I'm going to get this, and you're going to help me do it.'
I love the answer. That was so sweet. And keeping it sweet, can you tell me what brings you joy?
Oh, two things. From a people perspective, my husband and daughter, they bring me joy every day. When they walk through the door from school and work, I still get butterflies. It's been eight years, we're celebrating our eighth anniversary together this year. Tony and Lailah came into my life when she was eight years old. And she's celebrating her Sweet 16 this year. But outside of that, video games and cooking.
Wow, you can cook?
Oh, I throw down.
Yes, Nikki, please. I'm learning. I'm trying to learn, and I need some recipes.
Oh, I will hook you up. A lot of it is up here in my head, but you know those are the best ones. I'll totally teach you how to cook. My mother, I cooked with her growing up. And she was one of those weirdos that knew how to cook and bake. My brother got the baking gene, and I got the cooking gene.
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was 17, and she knew, like, 'this is it, I really need for you to cook because you're going to have to take care of your brother with your sister.' He was nine years younger than me. So we cooked with that hanging over us and her saying, 'I'm not going to be here long. You gotta learn everything. You've got to be quick.' And I still have recipes that my family wants that I will not give them. She made the best sweet potato pie. My pie tastes exactly like hers.
Oh my gosh. Isn't this so interesting, the ways that our mother comes out of us? Like when I'm writing, I have my mom's handwriting sometimes, and it feels like my mom's pouring out of my fingertips. And so for you, when you cook and it tastes like hers, it's like she's pouring out of you.
And you know what? I realized my mother dominated this conversation because Monday would be her 74th birthday. So I'm feeling that she's around. She's here everyday. Leading me to why I wanted to attend an HBCU, it's that African tradition, that our ancestors are always with us. My mother taught me that, dare I say, that spirituality.
Absolutely. So what is your main goal in life, something that is constant?
You know what? It's sort of new. It's newish, actually eight years new. My constant is to be a good mom, and raise a decent human being. If I have a say in how this young lady is going to present herself and be herself. For instance, she felt comfortable enough with Tony and me to come out as bisexual at 13. So my constant is for her to continue to be who she is and to be this amazing human that will touch lives. So that is a constant, watching her grow up to be an amazing person.
Wow. It sounds like you're creating the same safe space that your mom created, too. That's beautiful.
Absolutely.
Obviously, NPR is constantly evolving. So in your opinion, what is an aspect that you think should remain, and what is the aspect that you think should change?
What should remain is our commitment to the public, our love and respect for marginalized communities and getting their voices heard. That whole public media mantra, we should never, ever lose sight of that, of why we're at NPR, why we choose to work at NPR. What could change? More representation of marginalized groups in leadership. If we want to reflect and serve America, with diversification as our mantra, it has to start from within, I believe. And filling our leadership mold with diverse perspectives and opinions and people will allow us to serve a whole lot better, will allow us to serve our communities a whole lot better with different views.
And here's the good news. I really believe that, well, the proof is in the pudding, but John Lansing is doing a really good job and changing that. He is making change in those ranks and throughout the organization.
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