Nicole Anderson
AT&T
Dallas, TX USA
"You can’t rely on anyone else for your own happiness—you have to make your own."
Career Roadmap
Nicole's work combines: Business, Non-Profit Organizations, and Learning / Being Challenged
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Take the time to learn. You don't have to jump into every opportunity right away. Build your skills and experience before trying to take charge. Take advantage of leadership development programs and networking. Intern or take on various positions within your company in order to learn a variety of skills.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science
University of California-San Diego
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management
The University of Texas at Austin
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
My parents are both immigrants from the Netherlands, so my sister and I are first-generation Americans.
2.
Growing up, our parents were active in politics and serving the community, so I developed an early interest in both of those areas.
3.
Attended the University of California, San Diego, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in political science.
4.
I began my career in politics working on campaigns and congressional tasks.
5.
On a whim, I decided to go back to school to get my MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
6.
I struggled my first year in graduate school—I had to learn the basics of Microsoft Excel and familiarize myself with subjects like accounting and statistics.
7.
After graduating, I began working for AT&T where I started out working in external and legislative affairs within the same branch as the AT&T Foundation.
8.
I am now the assistant vice president of social innovation at AT&T and the president of the AT&T Foundation, overseeing all of our philanthropic programs and charitable giving.
Defining Moments
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
My parents were both immigrants to the U.S. from the Netherlands. They always supported me, but couldn't really help me when it came to navigating the American school system. There was pressure to succeed, but I also felt pride in my roots.
I started out working in politics, but was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I ended up going back to school to pursue my MBA in order to do something different.
Graduate school was initially really hard for me because I had to learn a lot of things that I was not familiar with like Excel, accounting, statistics, etc. The first year was a painful growing time.