Grace Chiang Nicolette, Vice President of Programming and External Relations, works closely with the President on the organization’s partnerships, outreach efforts, communications, and innovative programming, including oversight of CEP’s biennial conference for foundation executives. Prior to this role, Grace was a manager on CEP’s Assessment team, where she led the marketing, creation, and presentation of CEP’s benchmarking assessments for individual foundations. Grace is a frequent speaker at conferences and to foundation and nonprofit boards and staff on topics of philanthropic effectiveness and also philanthropy in China.

Prior to joining CEP in 2011, Grace co-founded a philanthropy advisory firm in Shanghai that identifies investments in high potential nonprofits and social enterprises in China. She began her career working in finance in New York at Citigroup and then in Shanghai at a semiconductor manufacturing company. Grace has an executive education certificate from Harvard’s Kennedy School in Global Leadership and Public Policy and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar with a BA in Economics and International Relations. She resides with her husband and two children in Cambridge, where they are active members of their church.