Dean of College & Career Counseling, UIC College Prep

Nikki Desgrosellier (she/her/hers) was born in South Korea, adopted at 5 months old, and raised in rural central Washington State. She is a first-generation college graduate from Western Washington University where she studied Psychology and Spanish Language & Literature. During college, she was able to learn the vocabulary she needed to explore her identities, challenge systems of power and oppression, and became passionate about feminism, ally building, and equity work.

Nikki then joined Teach For America Chicago in 2009 and taught Spanish and AP Psychology at Uplift Community High School in the Uptown neighborhood for four years, while also earning her Master’s degree in Teaching from Dominican University. She was a OneGoal Program Director at Uplift and piloted an all-school model of the college prep program. Through this work, she discovered her passion for college access, persistence, and graduation for all students in Chicago, which brought her to the Noble Network College Team in 2013.

Nikki is currently the Dean of College & Career Counseling at UIC College Prep, leading the college-going culture of the school and supporting all students to have access to affordable college options and ambitious post-secondary plans that lead to positive multigenerational change. Prior to this, she was an Instructional College Counselor and AP Psychology Instructor at Rauner College Prep, a College Counselor at UIC College Prep, and the founding Dean of College & Post-Secondary Counseling and an Assistant Principal at Mansueto High School.