Audra Nixon

Diversity & Inclusion Strategist

Audra Nixon graduated from Bennett College, with a B.A. in English and then completed a Masters in Public Health at Yale University. She comes to EDI from the National Heart Lung Blood Institute where she was hired as the institutes’ first DEIA Program Manager. In that role, Audra supported the executive level DEIA efforts as well as completion of the Mandatory MD 715 report and the transition of that MD 715 data call into the DEIA Inventory utilized to inform the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for DEIA. Prior to NIH, Audra was a Research Administrator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a prior Army Officer.

Audra’s passion is to empower people and communities. She currently holds leadership positions in two volunteer organizations and has written grants which were awarded to support DEIA work for one of those organizations. One grant looked at the suspension rate of minority children in the Howard County school system and proposed solutions for change. The other grant supported the creation of an “Equity Collaborative” which trained people to organize around issues concerning them within their communities; and to empower them with the tools to advocate for change.