Nicole Sandford is an independent director and seasoned professional with extensive experience advising complex organizations in their most challenging times. A qualified audit committee financial expert, Nicole serves on the board of Aspira Women’s Health (Nasdaq: AWH) where she chairs the audit committee and is a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
For nearly three decades at Deloitte, Nicole was known for a strategic mindset and uncommon leadership. In her last role, she led the firm’s nearly $600 million regulatory and operational risk practice during a period of strategic transformation. She served as the audit partner for public and private companies, gaining extensive experience in complex transactions including mergers and acquisitions and initial/secondary securities offerings. Her cross-industry client advisory work focused on governance, crisis response, risk management and regulatory/compliance remediation for dozens of Fortune 500 companies and several of the world’s largest banks.
As the founder of Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness and board diversity initiatives, Nicole authored some of the firm’s foundational corporate governance thought-leadership and led its response to the governance aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd Frank Acts. She has extensive relationships with directors, institutional investors, proxy advisory firms, and other governance thought leaders in the U.S. and globally.
In 2020, Nicole joined the Ellig Group as its Global Board Services Leader to advise boards and senior executives on matters related to governance, particularly those related to board composition, competency and diversity.
Nicole is a frequent speaker on governance, risk management, culture and leading practices for boards and board committees. She has spoken at major universities around the country, including Stanford, Yale, NYU, Rice and Columbia, as well as professional organizations such as the American Bar Association, NACD, The Society for Corporate Governance, The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), and The Conference Board. Nicole has received numerous awards including the Millstein Center’s Rising Stars of Corporate Governance and The International Alliance for Women’s World of Vision Award.
Nicole is the Chair of Girl Scouts of Connecticut, director of the Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) and Emeritus Member of the advisory board of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. She holds a Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from Carnegie Mellon University and the NACD.
Nicole is passionate about helping people with cancer as a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program and as the patient advocate/representative on the Greenwich Hospital Breast Center’s Accreditation Leadership Committee. She lives in Connecticut and Western New York with her husband and three children.
