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CEO
Convergence Global, Just Community Inc.
As Nicole Carey knows, tough conversations lead to meaningful change. She speaks candidly. As CEO of Convergence Global (formerly The Indy Equity Collaborative), she helps organizations with leadership development, strategic planning and consulting to overcome systemic problems. As founder of the Indy Collective Leadership Circle, she helps train the next generation of community leaders. As a leader on the Indiana Avenue Strategic Plan, she helped unite business development with cultural preservation. As a leader on the Latino Leadership Circle, she breaks barriers and promotes trust. “She doesn’t hold back from saying what others won’t say and creates spaces for brave conversations,” one peer said. Carey also is CEO and founder of JUST Community Inc., which helps provide maternal health support to Black women. “I love connecting people to their strengths,” she said. “Strengths-based leadership coaching is my jam.”
Getting here: An early career in dental hygiene revealed to her the depth of health care inequities, she said. Work in cultural and leadership development followed. “Over the years, I have worked across industries from health care to education to corporate leadership, helping organizations reimagine how they approach inclusion, decision-making and systemic change.”
First job: restaurant server
Givebacks: She is a member of the Indianapolis Public Schools board. During her tenure, voters approved a $410 million referendum, and high school graduation rates have continued to increase. Her leadership of a board committee led to 10 policy changes to reflect the board’s commitment to equity.
Meaningful moment: Creating the Indy Collective Leadership Circle fellowship, she said, has been one of the most rewarding parts of her career. “Watching leaders step into their confidence, sharpen their skills and actually apply what they’re learning—instead of just sitting through another leadership workshop—is what makes this work so exciting.”
Life lesson: “False binaries don’t serve anyone—systems often try to force choices into black-and-white categories, but the most effective solutions exist in the nuanced, in-between spaces.”•
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