Nikki Smith Acierto joined UBC in 2021 and is currently a Senior Consultant. She brings to her consulting work a variety of experiences in health advocacy and public education. Prior to joining George Mason, Nikki was with LMI, a federal consultancy, where she worked on projects involving Medicare program review and compliance, communications, and facilitation. She previously worked as a high school teacher in rural Kentucky. She earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, a Master of Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), ScrumMaster, and Practitioner of Human-Centered Design. In her free time she enjoys camping, spoiling her rescue dogs, and volunteering with the Hunger Response Team of Sterling.