VP, Change Management & Transformation, NPR

Nikki Jones

Nikki Jones (she/her) is NPR's Vice President of Change Management and Transformation. In this role, she works to ensure NPR delivers on its business and cultural aspirations, develops more inclusive decision making and transparent ways of setting project plans and accountabilities and builds stronger support systems for cross-departmental collaboration.

Jones previously served as Director of Agile Transformation and Program Management in the Digital Media division. Since joining NPR in early 2019, she has made a demonstrable impact on her immediate group and the larger organization: helping lead a transformative effort to bring new rigor to goal setting and tracking, improving roadmap planning and leading and mentoring a diverse team of project managers.

Prior to joining NPR, Jones was the Director of Program Management with SiriusXM Radio, where she coached product teams responsible for digital campaign execution on SiriusXM.com and content management, sales flows, and marketing promotion optimization — leading engineering and design teams to achieve digital sales goals of 50%.

As Senior Technical Program Manager with National Geographic Digital Media, she launched the official online experience for the U2 3D film for NatGeo's Cinema Ventures Entertainment Division and led cross-functional teams for all online programs for NatGeo and NatGeo Magazine. As a consultant with Secured Sciences Group, she reengineered the IT Governance process for the United States Marine Corps' Manpower Information Systems Division.

Jones earned her BS in Social Science/Political Science from Coppin State University and her Master of Science in Information Systems Technologies/Advanced Business Technologies from The George Washington University. She served on the board of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications in 2015 and is currently serving on the Technology and Innovation Committee for the Emma Bowen Foundation.

Jones was introduced to tech at a young age through video games. Her love for technology led her through database administration and front-end development, and grew exponentially when she became a project manager. Her passion for servant-leadership, program management and transformation drives her to help minorities confront and embrace the challenges that they'll face in the technology industry.