Pinkard, Tipton Elected to National Academy of Education
Northwestern University’s Nichole Pinkard (PhD98), who has spent her life helping young people find and access learning opportunities in their community, was among 22 exceptional scholars elected to the prestigious National Academy of Education.
Pinkard, the Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences, is the 18th School of Education and Social Policy faculty member to receive the honor, which recognizes a lifetime of work.
In addition to Pinkard, Elizabeth Tipton, a professor of statistics and data science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, was also elected to the Academy.
Tipton, a fellow with the Institute of Policy Research and co-director of the Statistics for Evidence-Based Policy and Practice Center, focuses on education and human development and holds a courtesy appointment as professor of Human Development and Social Policy.
Building Educational Ecosystems
Pinkard, a youth basketball coach and active member of the Evanston community, is known for creating systems that connect young people with opportunities in schools, libraries, park districts, and other community spaces.
She describes this infrastructure as the “connective tissue” of learning, likening it to the air in a car’s tires: essential but often unnoticed.
Through the Digital Youth Network, which she cofounded with Akili Lee (PhD02), she has created multiple programs to increase access and opportunity, including the Cities Learn platform (formerly called L3,) which is used by schools and community groups in several states.
“Nichole is so influential because she loves her community and place,” said School of Education and Social Policy Dean Bryan Brayboy, the Carlos Montezuma Professor. “She thinks in big and expansive ways. And her presence is enormous. When I first met her, I said, ‘I thought you were six feet tall!’ (For the record, she is 5-foot-1¾ inches.).
Her work put Chicago on the map as the epicenter of a powerful transformative perspective on learning and growth and human development, said her colleague, Mike Horn, professor of learning sciences. And her ability to push boundaries makes it hard to classify her strictly as a learning scientist.
“Nichole is secretly a data geek,” Horn said. “It’s the thing that keeps her up until 3 a.m. making maps. It’s her passion. Data gives Nichole insights into the assets of communities where we allocate resources, mentors, people, programs, transportation systems.”
Pinkard also routinely finds ways to connect her friends and colleagues, to bring out the best in everyone, Horn said. “I picture her up at 5 a.m. thinking, ‘how can I get this person over here—who I think has so much unrecognized potential—into a better position? How can we move this other person over here so that she can thrive?’ She sees the value in people. Then she amplifies it in a way I’ve never seen anyone else do.”
A Kansas City, Kansas, native, Pinkard participated in Northwestern’s LEAD (Leadership, Education, and Development) program during high school, which inspired her academic journey. She earned a computer science degree from Stanford University and later returned to Northwestern to complete her master’s in computer science and a doctorate in learning sciences.
In 2024, Pinkard was named a fellow of the International Society of Learning Sciences; she is also a fellow with American Educational Research Association. She delivered a convocation address to School of Education and Social Policy students in 2016 and was honored with the Northwestern University Alumni Association’s Alumni Merit Award in 2014.
“Nicole is driven by a lifelong passion and a powerful vision for equity,” Horn said during her investiture ceremony. “She makes no small plans. She lifts others up and helps them achieve more than they ever imagined. It’s a wonder to behold.”
Here’s a closer look at five ecosystems Pinkard has developed:
Digital Youth Network (DYN):
Founded in 2006, DYN helps young people develop technical, creative, and analytical digital literacies. The initiative began with middle school students at University of Chicago charter schools and has since evolved to focus on creating connections between opportunities and resources.
- Digital Youth Divas: This program engages middle school girls in hands-on STEAM activities through storytelling, mentorship, and project-based learning, encouraging them to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
EL3 Platform and ELEAP: In collaboration with EvanSTEM, Pinkard developed the EL3 platform to help parents and students discover affordable educational opportunities. ELEAP, a scholarship initiative stemming from Evanston’s participatory budgeting process, expands access to summer and out-of-school programming to support students’ college and career readiness.
STEAMville
An open-access platform, STEAMville helps kids discover, develop, and showcase their STEAM interests and identities and connect to other STEAM learning opportunities. The STEAMbassador program uses the platform to help college students pursue STEAM interests and share what they’ve learned with young people through mentoring and creative activities, such as coding music, flying drones, building machines, and writing stories in online and face-to-face informal learning spaces.
Pinkard was a co-founder of YOUmedia, a public learning space for teens where they use traditional and new media to create games, videos, and virtual worlds. YOUmedia began as a partnership between the Chicago Public Library and the MacArthur Foundation and has since expanded to a country-wide network of YOUmedia Learning Labs. Teens who are part of YOUmedia can access thousands of books and a variety of tools to help them build their digital media skills.