National Leadership Program, Fall 2022
Nicona MacDonald
Nicona MacDonald was a Nonprofit Management Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Fall 2022. RespectAbility is a national nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
MacDonald is a workforce development professional with a passion for building a more inclusive world and increasing employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. She has a bachelor’s degree in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and more than a decade of experience in the nonprofit and higher education fields. She has worked as an employment placement specialist, a manager of peer mentoring programs, and as a university admissions reviewer.
MacDonald has a strong interest in philanthropy and loves building meaningful and productive relationships between organizations and funders. At RespectAbility, she is looking forward to gaining experience with the dynamics of nonprofit management, as well as finding new and innovative ways to increase employment rates and workforce visibility for underemployed populations. Nicona believes that accessibility and universal design are two key elements of success for building an inclusive world. She strives to bring awareness to not only barriers which prevent equal access to information, leisure and opportunity, but also to innovative accessibility solutions so that employers, health care professionals and others can feel confident knowing their employees, patients, and colleagues have equal access in all areas of life.
In her free time, MacDonald would rather be outdoors than indoors. She loves food, hiking, spending time with her children, and exploring new places. She also loves animals and houseplants, and her favorite time of year is fall.
