Nicole Sandford spent nearly three decades at Deloitte in a variety of technical and leadership roles. She was the audit partner for numerous public companies before founding Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness and its board diversity initiatives. Nicole has advised the boards and executive teams of dozens of companies – including many of the largest global banks – on governance, crisis response and regulatory risk management and remediation. In her last role, she was the managing partner of Deloitte’s regulatory and operational risk practice during a period of strategic transformation.
In 2020, Nicole joined the Ellig Group as its Global Board Services Leader. In this role, she leads board placements and advises boards and senior executives on matters related to governance, particularly those related to board composition, competency and diversity.
Nicole is a frequent speaker on governance, risk management, culture and leading practices for boards and board committees. She has received numerous awards including the Millstein Center’s “Rising Stars of Corporate Governance” and The International Alliance for Women’s “World of Vision” Award.
Nicole serves on the board of Aspira Women’s Health (Nasdaq: AWH) where she is a member of the audit and nominating and corporate governance committees. She is the Chair of Girl Scouts of Connecticut, board member of the Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) and Emeritus Member of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware Advisory Board. She has a NACD/CERT certificate in cybersecurity risk oversight from Carnegie Mellon University.
Nicole is passionate about helping people with cancer as a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society’s “Road to Recovery” program and as the patient advocate/representative on the Greenwich Hospital Breast Center Accreditation Leadership Committee. She lives in Connecticut and Western New York with her husband and three children.