Our Story

The Black Affinity Group was founded by Nicole Williams. Nicole is a native of Portland, Oregon's historic Kenton neighborhood. She graduated from Benson High School and received her Bachelor's in Journalism from Mercy University (Dobbs Ferry, NY) and a Masters in Journalism focusing on public affairs and government from Columbia College (Chicago).

Her biggest mistake when living in Chicago was not turning in an internship application to work for a Junior Senator by the name of Barack Obama! The two of them did eventually cross paths when he ran for President and she was a news producer at KVAL TV in Eugene, OR.

So Why Black Affinity Group?

Nicole decided to switch gears career wise for a number of reasons. Staying home during COVID gave her an opportunity to re-examine what she wanted out of life. And, in 2020, her brother died suddenly. She felt like that was a sign to pursue something more personal; navigating the black experience. George Floyd's death was also an eye opening experience as she was forced to have a conversation with her kids before she was ready.

While in line at Dutch Bros, her youngest kid (who was 5 at the time), saw a police offering walk up to the window to order coffee. She told Nicole to hide! While Nicole was able to explain to her that nobody did nothing wrong and all was okay, it was an eye opening experience and an experience most Black parents will have with their kids at some point.