Dr. Nicole Amber Haggard teaches in the Film, Media, and Social Justice program at Mount Saint Mary’s University and was awarded the Teaching Honor by the National Society of Leadership and Success. Through her project “Race Sex and Hollywood” Nicole has spent the past fourteen years researching and publishing on the intersection of race and gender in American culture and the media’s ability to impact society.  Her TedX talk “#MediaMatters: Lessons from Hollywood and an Unstoppable Community” used her journey from a GED to PhD to explore why media matters, how race and representation impact our culture, and the power of unstoppable women with great ideas to change the world. Dr. Haggard’s publications include “Women in Entertainment: The Ongoing Fight for Equality” (2018, co-authored with Dr. Caroline Heldman), the “Film and Television” entries of the Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California (2016 and 2017), chapters in “Race in American Film” (2017), “American Multicultural Studies” (2013), and more.

In 2017 she founded the Center for Women in Hollywood, an organization dedicated to shifting the representation of women in the media. Due to her ingenuity bridging the worlds of academia, social justice, and entertainment, Take the Lead recently selected Nicole for their 50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment initiative. Whether she is teaching, publishing, or leading women’s circles, Dr. Haggard strives to bring out in her audience a deeper understanding of themselves, the greater purpose of their work, and their relationship to the world around them.