Dr. Nicole Bien

Dr Nicole Bien is Chief Schools Officer at the International Baccalaureate (IB). She is responsible for delivering all services to the global network of IB schools including professional learning, school authorization, evaluation, and program implementation. Additionally, her team partners with a network of over 30 thousand educators who co-create learning, teaching and assessment resources with the IB and facilitate professional learning in the wider learning community for education excellence. Since joining the IB in 2016, Nicole has also served as Global Director of Learning and Teaching leading all aspects of programme and curriculum design for IB’s four educational programmes serving students ages 3-19. Nicole entered the education sector as an advocate for at-risk and incarcerated youth and inclusive education. She has held education leadership and research positions in the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands in the capacity of Head of School, Curriculum Advisor and Board Leader at independent schools and non-profit organizations. Prior to her career in education, Nicole spent over a decade at multinational companies including Yahoo! and General Motors as well as start-ups leading brand strategy, marketing, market research, product development and portfolio management. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Education from the University of Sydney, an M.B.A. from Columbia University Business School, and a B.A. from Yale university.

Teachers and school leaders, without them, everything else is pure theory.

My relationship with at-risk youth that I have worked with in my early career that prompted me to move from for-profit to education.

The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World, Adrian Wooldridge

Learning Ecosystems: An Emerging Praxis for the Future of Education, Pavel Lusksha

Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire