Dr. Nichola Driver, Executive Director for the Office of Field Service, has been named to the 2024 Class of 40 Under 40 from Arkansas Business, a group of rising young professionals who will be honored at a luncheon June 11 at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.
This year’s honorees include business leaders, entrepreneurs, medical professionals and others who are making a significant impact in their companies and communities. Profiles of the 40 honorees will be featured in a special supplement of Arkansas Business to be distributed on June 3.
In addition to teaching Field Research Method, Driver oversees the Practicum and IPSP experiences for all Clinton School students. In February, Driver was named as one of the leads for the Clinton School in the recently-launched Constructive Dialogue Curriculum Initiative through the Volcker Alliance.
Driver’s research includes health disparities and social determinants of health, with a focus on maternal and reproductive health. Her recent projects have focused on the impact of social support for new mothers, CenteringPregnancy, factors associated with food insecurity among Latino families, perceptions of and access to contraception in Arkansas, and the impact of group prenatal care on birth outcomes. A native Arkansan, she strives to contribute to positive social change in her home state.
Driver is also a trained and experienced evaluator, having consulted for several local and state-wide organizations on monitoring and evaluation, including the Arkansas Department of Health, Entergy, Arkansas Human Development Corp, UAMS Women’s Center, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, and Northwest Arkansas Community College, among others. She frequently serves as an invited speaker for external institutions on the topics of monitoring and evaluation, developing indicators that matter, and the importance of logic models in program planning and evaluation.
Driver holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree in public administration from UA Little Rock. She formerly served as the Director of Nonprofit Leadership Studies at UA Little Rock.
Very deserving of this honor. Reflects what all of her colleagues and pupils know equally. Truly the model of Public Servant.