Nicole Bender

Nicole has a passion for cause advocacy work and brings nearly 20 years of experience in communications strategy, message development, nonprofit support, grassroots campaigns, and project management. During her time at GMMB, she has applied her skills to a wide variety of clients supporting public health campaigns, education, foster care advocacy, transportation safety, and other progressive issues. Her client portfolio has included the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, Communities in Schools, the Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety, Casey Family Programs, America’s Promise Alliance, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, The March for Women’s Lives, the American Beverage Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and America’s Health Insurance Plans. Nicole recently returned to GMMB after a decade spent as the Director of Regional Media Advocacy for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. There, she led communications strategy for nationwide grassroots campaigns to support access to affordable health care, funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, as well as state and federal tobacco control programs. She spearheaded campaigns on Capitol Hill and in statehouses across the country. At ACS CAN, Nicole also developed regional media strategies to support public awareness campaigns, fundraising efforts, voter education campaigns, and state ballot initiatives.