I work in bridging the spaces.
Between capital and community. Design and delivery. New technology and the people expected to live with it.
The work has changed. The question hasn’t.
Nicole Cacal is a Filipino-American strategist, educator, nonprofit leader, and speaker based in Honolulu. She trained in finance and international business and built her career across private capital, product strategy, design, and emerging technology.
That path did not produce a neat specialty. It produced a way of seeing: incentives matter, systems shape behavior, and innovation is only meaningful when people can actually participate in it.
Previously, Nicole founded and led Forbes Ignite, an innovation consultancy and global leadership network working at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and social impact.
That path did not produce a neat specialty. It produced a way of seeing: incentives matter, systems shape behavior, and innovation is only meaningful when people can actually participate in it.
Previously, Nicole founded and led Forbes Ignite, an innovation consultancy and global leadership network working at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and social impact.
Today, Nicole leads TRUE Initiative, teaches at Parsons School of Design, serves in global sustainability leadership, and advises people navigating decisions that refuse to stay inside one discipline.
Today, Nicole leads TRUE Initiative, teaches at Parsons School of Design, serves in global sustainability leadership, and advises people navigating decisions that refuse to stay inside one discipline.
Private equity and private wealth management. A close education in how organizations value risk, opportunity, and time.
Private equity and private wealth management. A close education in how organizations value risk, opportunity, and time.
Strategy work inside a global startup incubator and human-centered consulting practice focused on emerging technology.
Strategy work inside a global startup incubator and human-centered consulting practice focused on emerging technology.
Teaching financial management, business models, social innovation, and strategic technology at Parsons and previously Pratt.
Teaching financial management, business models, social innovation, and strategic technology at Parsons and previously Pratt.
Formerly leading Forbes Ignite and currently leading TRUE Initiative, where technology strategy is inseparable from workforce, resilience, and economic opportunity.
Formerly leading Forbes Ignite and currently leading TRUE Initiative, where technology strategy is inseparable from workforce, resilience, and economic opportunity.
The formal coordinates.
Columbia University / Executive MSc · Technology Management
Parsons School of Design / MSc · Strategic Design & Management
University of Hawaiʻi / BBA · Finance, International Business & Economics
University of Hawaiʻi Pacific Asia Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) - Virtual Professional in Residence
Who gets left behind when the technology moves this fast?
It is a strategy question. It is also a design question. Nicole’s work begins where the two meet.
It is a strategy question. It is also a design question. Nicole’s work begins where the two meet.
