Nicholas grew up in the heart of central Pennsylvania, known to most East-Coasters as "Pennsyltucky."  Here he learned all he needed to know about conservative politics and the corporatization of rural America. Fleeing to Philadelphia in 2006, he began studying History at Temple, originally to teach in inner-city schools. Quickly becoming fed-up with the way History is presented, he realized that studying the movements of European royals and American aristocrats wasn't going to teach him anything he wanted to know. He began to delve into the contemporary history of the Global South, and his fascination quickly turned into becoming enamored with the study of food rights and with rural social movements across the "developing nations," which instilled in him a passion for community-level organizing as the most effective model for change. He started working with Grassroots Campaigns as a Field Manager in the summer of 2010, and had the summer of a lifetime building a huge team of dedicated activists who love their job and are good at it. This success quickly led him to take on the Assistant Director role in Philadelphia, specializing in recruitment.