Nicole Michaels, Bus Ad ’93, was elected to the Marquette University Board of Trustees in 2022.

She is a business and technology transformation strategist and an insurance industry expert.

Having served in multiple insurance consulting and business leadership roles, Michaels directly contributed to the growth of EY into a $50 billion professional services firm recognized on Fortune’s Great Places to Work® list for 25 consecutive years.  She has proven success scaling market-leading insurance consulting businesses with responsibility for revenue growth, markets and people development.

As EY’s Global and North America Life Transformation Leader for Insurance (2020 – 2024), Michaels successfully grew EY’s Life consulting practice’s revenue over 300% in the United States during the pandemic. The practice is now recognized as the leading life consultancy in the U.S. She formed strategic alliances and teaming relationships with leading software vendors and Insurtech firms, expanding the transformations customer base from three life carriers to over 20 active transformation clients.

As EY’s Global and North American Business Transformation Leader for Insurance (2016 – 2023), Michaels spearheaded go-to-market strategies in property, casualty and life insurance resulting in $200 million to $250 million in revenue and year-over-year double-digit growth. She led strategic expansion of team, capabilities and tools to effectively support large-scale client transformations.

Throughout her career, Nicole has served as a key advisor to C-Suite executives and as a steering committee member providing guidance on strategic and critical business and technology matters. 

Deeply passionate about leveraging her expertise to serve the community, Michaels is highly engaged in serving on boards, including Marquette’s School of Business Finance Specialization Committee and Insurance Curriculum Development Committee. She has also served on the board of the MS Society of Wisconsin and as an Enterprise Board member at the Carlson School of Management.

As a recognized industry expert, Michaels provides cutting-edge insights on emerging trends the insurance industry. She regularly speaks at industry conferences, including EY’s Insurance Executive Forum, Women in Insurance Leadership Conference, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Connected Claims Conference. Michaels has also published articles including “6 Megatrends Shaping Life Insurance” and “3 Keys for Building Women Leaders.”