Connecting People. Purpose. Possibility.
Through executive search, my memoir, keynotes, and historic restoration, I help people and organizations discover purpose, restore what matters, and build legacies that endure.
Nicole Kamaleson
RECOGNIZED . MAY 2026
Honored by Marquis Who's Who for Excellence in Global Social Impact and Executive Search.
WOMEN EMPOWERING
WOMEN . 2024
HARVARD’S GOVERNING
FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE
GOVERN FOR IMPACT.
POLICY GOVERNANCE
Nicole Kamaleson
PRACTICE AREAS
Board & CEO/Social Impact/Non-Profit, Human Capital, Inclusion Strategies (Search & Consulting), Technology & Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategic Change, Financial Services, Energy & Professional Services
Nicole Kamaleson brings more than 25 years of global experience to mission-driven organizations working across finance, philanthropy, international development, human rights, global health, education, environment, sustainability, and inclusive growth. She has lived and worked in Romania, Kenya, Hungary, England, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving clients throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean
In executive search, Nicole has led board, CEO, C-suite, vice president, and regional/country director appointments worldwide. As a strategic advisor, she partners with boards on leadership transitions and succession; drafts corporate guidelines and internal policies; facilitates strategy and organizational design; and informs governance models using Carver Policy Governance® principles. She actively follows the Govern for Impact community.
An engaging speaker and facilitator, Nicole has addressed audiences at the Maxwell School’s Transnational NGO Initiative (Syracuse University), InterAction, Ronald McDonald House Global Leadership Conference, GIIN Investor Forum, Mission Investors Exchange Institute, and NAWBO, with current talks including “Reason for Being / Your Ikigai” Her work emphasizes integrating purpose, professional practice and spiritual conviction across cultures and contexts.
Nicole’s memoir, Between the Bookends: Who lives? Who dies? Who tells the story? traces a journey from a life-altering family discovery to building a global life, navigating loss, and finding renewal in the U.S. Virgin Islands, offering readers a framework to reclaim identity and align daily life with faith and legacy.
In addition to her speaking, advisory and global executive search work, Nicole currently serves on the boards of RefuSHE and ChildFund International and previously served on the board of the Global Fund for Children.
Education: B.A., Business Administration (University of Sioux Falls); Executive Certificate (University of Sioux Falls); M.A., Human Resource Development (Azusa Pacific University); Executive Education in Nonprofit Governing Excellence (Harvard Business School
25+ Years
EXPERIENCE
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration
University of Sioux Falls
Executive Certificate
University of Sioux Falls
Master’s, Human Resource Development
Azusa Pacific University
Executive Education, Governance/Nonprofit Excellence
Harvard Business School
What do you do when the life you know is undone . . . twice?
BETWEEN THE BOOKENDS
A memoir of identity, love, loss, and a life only God could have designed
NICOLE KAMALESON • MEMOIR • MEDIA ONE-SHEET
Nicole Kamaleson
Author · Speaker · Executive Search Leader
Managing Director, DSG | Global — International social impact executive search. Lived across four continents — Romania, Kenya, Hungary, England, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In Between the Bookends, Nicole tells a story of identity, love, loss, faith, and restoration — and invites audiences to consider what becomes possible when life is interrupted and we choose to live beyond the bookends.
THE STORY
Nicole Kamaleson’s story raises universal questions: What happens when the story you inherited isn’t the whole truth?
At nineteen, she learned the story of her birth wasn’t what she had been told. Thirty-three years later, her husband was killed by a Taliban truck bomb in Kabul — fifteen minutes after they’d been texting.
Between those bookends: four continents, a 27-year intercultural marriage, three sons, a career in global social impact, and a faith tested by grief.
“The interruptions in your life don’t have the final word. They can forge who you become.”
MEDIA & STORY IDEAS
When the Life You Know Is Undone — Twice
Two life-altering revelations, thirty-three years apart.
The Family Secret That Was Meant To Protect
A hidden origin, a protected identity, and a complicated love behind family secrets.
What Proxy Warfare Costs Families
The families left to rebuild after geopolitics turn personal.
Wife, Widow, Woman: Refusing to Be Reduced
Carrying love forward without being defined only by grief.
Raising Children Across Continents
Motherhood and belonging across five countries, three sons.
The House That Helped Me Heal
Restoring an 1800s Danish-era home — and herself — in the Caribbean.
Leading Through Grief
How high-performing women hold identity together through loss.
INTERVIEW STARTERS
- What changed when the story you knew wasn’t your story at all? Adopted?
- How did global, intercultural life shape your sense of belonging?
- What did grief ask of your faith, identity, and leadership?
- Why did your family need to bless the telling of this story?
IDEAL FOR
Memoir features · Identity and belonging · Faith and resilience · Professional Women’s leadership · Grief and rebuilding · Cross-cultural family stories · People to People & Ikigai