Education Advocate & Consultant
Nicky is the founder of Mendez Advocacy. She is a Philly native, Puerto Rican, neurodivergent, Educational Advocate and Consultant whose lived experiences and as a parent to a son with special education needs drives her vision of helping to create a fully inclusive and equitable society. She passionately believes in the right to a quality education assuring success and maximizing the potential for every student.
In 2014 she established the Education Advocacy program at The Arc of Delaware County developing the program into a sustainable and successful advocacy service, supporting families throughout Delaware county and the surrounding area for 8 eight years. While leading the advocacy program there she created ESEL, a project aimed at combatting the school to prison pipeline, implementing mindfulness programming and Dr Ross Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions in Chester Upland School District. Funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PADDC), she also executive produced a documentary highlighting the importance of mindfulness programming and equitable school funding, Divided Attention: When The Children Who Need The Most Receive The Least.
She holds a Bachelor of Science, is a founding member of the PA Inclusion Collective and The Radnor Committee for Special Education. She completed SEAT 2 training and is a COPAA member. Nicky enjoys spending time with her son, Dylan, partner (Josh), pink dog (Lovey) and cat (Jackson). At home she loves artistic outlets including gardening and hardscaping design, going all out for Halloween, and vegan cooking. Additionally, she enjoys staying active with yoga and hiking.