Vivian D. Nixon
Member of The Fortune Society Board of Directors

Rev. Vivian Nixon is the Executive Director of the College and Community Fellowship (CCF), an organization that assists formerly incarcerated women in their pursuit of higher education, leadership skills, and career paths that lead to economic security. Rev. Nixon came to CCF in 2001 as a student, following a period of incarceration during which, as a peer educator to other incarcerated women, she became painfully aware that lack of education severely impedes the ability to escape the cycle of poverty and recidivism. In 2003, while completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services Administration at SUNY Empire College, Rev. Nixon became Lead Organizer at CCF. In 2006 she became Executive Director. The number of program participants has grown exponentially under her leadership with more than 190 CCF participants having earned college and graduate degrees and fewer than 2 percent having had subsequent criminal justice involvement. Rev. Nixon serves on advisory boards of several other organizations. Her leadership in educational advocacy includes co-chairing “Education from the Inside Out,” a collaborative campaign to restore eligibility for Pell Grants to incarcerated students.