About
Carina Group was founded to help difference makers fulfill their missions. We believe our clients deserve a custom approach depending on their lifecycle stage and organizational capabilities. With a philosophy of applying appropriate strategies and tools at the appropriate times, Carina Group can help clients overcome their most pressing challenges to meet their strategic goals and ultimately fulfill their missions.
"Carina" means "keel," which guides and stabilizes a boat, keeping it upright and on course. Carina Group helps clients confidently navigate challenges and remain on track for success.
"Carina" means "keel," which guides and stabilizes a boat, keeping it upright and on course. Carina Group helps clients confidently navigate challenges and remain on track for success.
Cindy Nickerson
Cindy Nickerson, Carina Group’s founder, has more than 30 years of management and consulting experience with nonprofit and for-profit companies, from start-ups to Fortune 50 firms. She is skilled at creating and implementing business plans and strategic plans, identifying challenges, bringing order to complex issues, analyzing data, and solving problems – all with the mind of an engineer, the tools of an MBA, and the heart of a nonprofit executive. As a business coach, she brings her seasoned experience and unwavering dedication to each client.
Prior to founding Carina Group, Ms. Nickerson served for over seven years as the first Executive Director of New England Science & Sailing Foundation (NESS) and as an elected member of NESS’s Board of Directors. She successfully managed NESS from start-up stage through early growth stage, transforming the small, seasonal program into a year-round, nationally recognized, award-winning, ocean adventure education nonprofit. Managing through rapid growth, she balanced pressing organizational needs with effective stewardship of donor funds. Ms. Nickerson worked closely with the President and the Board of Directors to develop and implement strategic plans, develop strong cultures of safety and evaluation, plan and implement significant brand changes, secure NESS’s first AmeriCorps contract, and invest in staff and administrative infrastructure to set NESS up for continued success after her departure. Wearing the CFO hat, she worked closely with NESS's accountants and auditors to enhance internal controls and ensure accurate financial reports. Ms. Nickerson’s early career was in the energy and industrial biotech industries providing strategic services to clients and employers. She authored and implemented business plans, marketing plans, and product development and launch strategies for new companies and products, including the first renewable energy-based retail electricity offering in the Eastern U.S. She also recommended and managed venture-stage investments in energy-related environmental and engineering technology firms, performing numerous market and financial analyses. Serving as a bridge between technical and commercial interests, she effectively merges the two for business success. As a volunteer, Ms. Nickerson has served on various nonprofit boards and committees, and she works pro bono for a limited number of organizations at a time. Ms. Nickerson has an M.S. Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and a B.S. Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. In 2015, she attended the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management executive education course at Harvard Business School. |