Nicole Lucas Awarded Coding it Forward Fellowship

Equitech Futures is proud to celebrate Nicole Lucas, a 2025 Applied Data Institute alumna from the United States, who has been awarded the Coding it Forward Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind summer fellowship program founded in 2017 by Harvard University graduates for early career technologists to innovate in the U.S. federal government.

Throughout the summer of 2026, Nicole will work intensively with the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. National Science Foundation. The fellowship will also include weekly educational events led by top technologists and mentorship among a network of more than 700 professionals who've completed the program over the last decade. Coding it Forward celebrates that nearly 50% of their fellows continue their work in social impact full-time, either in federal and state governments or in the social sector.

"I wanted to express how deeply grateful I am for my time at the Applied Data Institute," Nicole says. "The Applied Data Institute truly launched my journey into data and policy work, and I would not have reached this opportunity without everything I learned there. Thank you so much for Equitech Futures' support and guidance along the way."

Nicole holds a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Before coming to the Applied Data Institute, she was president of the school's chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and a programming lead for WashU's Center for Diversity and Inclusion. She is a native of New York City.