CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute welcomes Nicole Heller, PhD, to its research team as its newest Senior Policy Analyst. In this position, Nicole will play a pivotal role in helping to inform and shape public policy in New Hampshire. Her robust background in research will help expand NHFPI’s analytical capacity to effect positive change in public policy for the benefit of all Granite Staters, especially among New Hampshire families and individuals with low and moderate incomes.

“I am thrilled to join the NHFPI Team and work for an organization whose mission aligns with my values, both professionally and personally,” said Nicole. “My research background includes working with rural New England families experiencing poverty and the effects of substance use. I am also a first-generation college graduate raised in a working-class family, so NHFPI’s mission to promote policies that emphasize prosperity for low- and moderate-income families is especially important to me.”

Nicole comes to NHFPI from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, where she spent nearly seven years as an Associate Professor of Psychology. Prior to Siena, Nicole was a visiting professor at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. She looks forward to moving back to New Hampshire to be closer to family and friends.

Nicole earned her bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where she majored in Psychology and English. She then went on to finish a PhD program in Development Psychology at the University of Maine, where she studied the effects of prenatal opioid exposure on the socio-emotional development of infants.

“We are very excited and incredibly fortunate to welcome Nicole to NHFPI,” said Phil Sletten, NHFPI’s Research Director. “With Nicole, we know we have a new team member who is a sharp and discerning thinker, an effective communicator, and a compassionate colleague.”

 About New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute 

The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to exploring, developing, and promoting public policies that foster economic opportunity and prosperity for all New Hampshire residents, with an emphasis on low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Learn more at www.nhfpi.org. 

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CONTACT:
Molly Redfield
mredfield@nhfpi.org