Caila F. Nickerson, MSW joins as Chief Program and Impact Officer 

We are excited to announce that Caila F. Nickerson, MSW has joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound (BBBSPS) as the Chief Programs and Impact Officer. Caila’s deep commitment to community, her lived experiences, and demonstrated expertise in leading program improvement through data and analytics make her a powerful new addition to the BBBSPS leadership team. 

Caila graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Syracuse University, where she studied social work, psychology, and Spanish. She then completed her Master of Social Work at University of Pennsylvania with a focus on macro policy and practice.  

In her own words, “I moved to Seattle after picking a place on the map, narrowed down to the West Coast and “somewhere gay.” Once here, Caila made a lasting impact at two well-known Seattle institutions – the Gates Foundation and Lifelong (formerly Lifelong AIDS Alliance). 

After volunteering with Lifelong for a year, she became a Medical Case Manager – gathering the skills to support her clients through challenging life circumstances. These skills make her uniquely qualified to support our BBBS Puget Sound enrollment and match support teams as we connect mentors with young people facing systemic barriers. Her work at Lifelong inspired her to move to the Gates Foundation as a Program Assistant. There she supported teams working at scale on worldwide health issues such as HIV, Malaria, and NTDs. 

Caila also brings a wealth of experience in streamlining systems, scaling, and expanding programs. In her 10 overall years at Lifelong she went from Medical Case Manager to Lifelong Dental Program Manager to Director of the Chicken Soup Brigade. During that time, she created systems from the ground up, increased client enrollment, expanded programs from serving two counties to thirteen, and tripled funding.  

In addition to a deep commitment to the community and passion for equity and diversity, Caila brings systems thinking perspective to program design and implementation. Her unique skills and experiences will help us drive innovation, increase our impact, and unlock potential in our region’s young people.  

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