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Nicole Isaac
Nicole Isaac
01:12

Nicole Isaac

LinkedIn

Washington, DC USA

"We know that work is gonna change, but I don’t want you to discount or diminish what you bring to the table. A large part of it is just not giving up."

Career Roadmap

Nicole's work combines: Law, Government, and Upholding a Cause and Belief

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Day In The Life

Director of North America Policy

I work to globally transform the future of work through policy and expanding government engagement.

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Day In The Life Of The Director of North America Policy For LinkedIn

My Day to Day

I manage a team, develop policy, and expand government engagement across the United States and Canada on behalf of LinkedIn, including setting priorities and strategies for working with federal partners. This includes working with policymakers on critical issues such as privacy, surveillance, cybersecurity, content liability, and diversity in technology. I lead Economic Graph projects by applying data and analytics across North America and other regions with a cross-functional and global team.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    English Language and Literature, General

    Brown University

  • Bachelor's Degree

    African-American/Black Studies

    Brown University

  • Graduate Degree

    International Relations and Affairs

    Columbia University in the City of New York

  • Doctorate

    Law

    University of Pennsylvania

  • Graduate Degree

    International Human Rights

    University of Oxford

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    Born and raised in the housing projects in the Bronx, New York; my parents were both immigrants—my mother is Jamaican and my father is Costa Rican.

  • 2.

    I attended a private school on a scholarship—made me realize the impact location can have on access to opportunities and sparked my desire to change the reality of neighborhoods like mine.

  • 3.

    Attended Brown University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English and African-American studies.

  • 4.

    Then I earned my master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University and my law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

  • 5.

    I’ve worked in law in New York City, Geneva, Paris, and South Africa with the goal of understanding the ways in which human rights abroad mirror the civil rights issues in the U.S.

  • 6.

    Worked in government for over 10 years—five years were spent on Capitol Hill and the other five years were spent working in the White House for President Obama.

  • 7.

    I am also a nonprofit founder and have served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.

  • 8.

    Currently, I work as the director of North American policy for LinkedIn where I utilize data to solve workforce development challenges, develop policy, and expand government engagement.

Defining Moments

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I grew up in the middle of the drug wars in the Bronx during the 1980s. It was a particularly violent time to live in that area and I grew up knowing that the people there (including myself) had less opportunities compared to everyone else.

  • My parents are both immigrants and I grew up having a pretty typical first-generation experience. My advantage was getting a scholarship to attend a private school which afforded me opportunities others like me didn't have.