Nicole Alves Cuevas is a Logistics and Administrative Director as well as a Bilingual Corporate Trainer for the Reed Development Group. As a Logistics and Administrative Director, she oversees all aspects of daily operations, including managing the workflow between various departments as well as communicating and liaising with support staff, network executives, clients and other outside agencies and organizations. In her role as Bilingual Corporate Trainer, Nicole assists in program development, strategic planning, and utilizing a multi-lingual approach to DEI training via translating RDG’s English-based trainings into Spanish and/or Portuguese- friendly versions. As a woman of color, she understands the importance of, and is committed to, providing diverse training modalities in order to create equal opportunities for those populations that have historically been marginalized.
Over the past 20 years Nicole has dedicated her professional life to creating equal opportunities for those living with Developmental Disabilities and/or Mental Health Disorders. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in Education. She utilized that degree to help special education students succeed in a world not so easily navigable for those with disabilities. After a few years spent in the workforce, she went on to pursue post-graduate studies in Clinical Psychology, with the intention to further understand the psychology of human behavior.
Nicole began her professional career as a Behavioral Therapist at Oaks Integrated Care. OIC is a Non-Profit Organization that offers health and social service programs throughout New Jersey, including 24-hour residential facilities for children and adults with severe developmental and mental health challenges. Using Positive Behavior Supports and Applied Behavioral Analysis to reinforce positive behaviors while decreasing maladaptive ones, Nicole successfully rehabilitated patients and reunited them with their families. During this time, she also facilitated numerous fundraisers to raise awareness for Autism and Mental Health. As a result of her knowledge, expertise and teaching experience she was commissioned to devise and conduct yearly agency wide trainings on Trauma-Informed Care, which included how discrimination and inequality can cause and/or impact Trauma.
Her passion, experience and strong public speaking skills made her the perfect advocate for the underserved and overlooked population. Nicole went on to be promoted three times in a two-year period. After many years working directly with the clients she took on the role of Program Supervisor. As a Supervisor, she was an advocate for the equal rights of her clients as well as her employees. Nicole fought for higher wages, more culturally sensitive evaluations, larger bonuses, increased opportunities for the advancement of minority employees, and organized monthly employee appreciation events. Additionally, Nicole organized and supervised job fairs to ensure diversity and equality was included in the hiring process.
During her time working in the residential facilities, she was responsible for the oversight and management of multiple group homes, 100+ employees, and 50+ clients simultaneously. Nicole also served as an influential member of several committees including, The Human Rights Committee, The Behavioral Intervention Committee, and The Clinical Steering Committee.As one of the few bilingual employees, she also served as a translator for Spanish and Portuguese-speaking clients and their families. Nicole created initiatives that ensured all English language documents were also written in Spanish to ensure that clients and their families could make informed decisions regarding the quality of care they or their loved ones received.
In early 2020, Nicole was approached by Woods Manor, LLC, a for-profit organization that provides both in-home care and 24-hour residential services, to join them as their Director of Residential Services. Excited and encouraged by the fact that the founder and CEO was both female and minority, Nicole joined the administrative team of empowered women and was responsible for program, staff, and training development.
Nicole’s personal passions include dancing, gymnastics, and contributing to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society . Nicole was a member of a professional dance team from age 3-16. She is trained in Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata. She was also a serious gymnast, training for the pre-Olympic qualifiers at age 11. In 2006 Nicole found herself using her passion for dance, as an outlet, to get her through the toughest battle of her life, Cancer. Nicole is a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Survivor and enjoys participating in fundraisers that help raise money for Lymphoma research.