 Nicole was born in New York on April 19, 1965. However, when she was 3 weeks old she moved to the Netherlands with her family. Attending American schools abroad and in the U.S. in 1987 she graduated from Tulane University with a degree in history and political science. She went on to receive a Masters in Adult and Outdoor Education from Northern Illinois University. She worked as an environmental educator/trainer and director for several years. As well, she was a well-known facilitator and teacher of adult education learning principles.
In 1990 she moved to Vermont to attend law school. She completed a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy upon finishing her independent study in the Republic of Latvia researching its environmental laws and implementation. After receiving her degree, Nicole worked as an independent contractor in Lithuania and Latvia organizing and managing an environmental law project as well as an environmental education teacher-training program.
After many years working in the environmental field, Nicole went to work as the legislative and political director at the Vermont State Employees’ Association. In this role she was responsible for significant legislative changes for the Union from creating strict standards on privatization to overhauling the State’s retirement system. In the mid-1990 she forayed into politics and was a city council representative for two terms in Montpelier the capitol city of Vermont. In 2002, she married Curt McCormack a member of the Vermont Legislature and an environmental consultant. In 2005, she and Curt joined the Peace Corps and served in Senegal, West Africa until April 2008. As PCVs they developed a successful solid waste management project in the City of Joal where they lived. She remained in Senegal to work for World Wild Life Fund (WWF) to continue the project as well as a consultant for Peace Corps to facilitate two COS Conferences. In addition, she and her husband conducted a feasibility study for the NGO Tostan to expand their Peace Corps project into two more two cites in Senegal.
Nicole became the APCD for the Small Business Development and Eco-Tourism Program in July of 2009.
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