Nickol R. Hackett

Nickol R. Hackett is chief investment officer and treasurer at the Joyce Foundation, overseeing the investment program for endowment assets of $1 billion in support of the Foundation’s grant making.

Prior to joining Joyce, Ms. Hackett served as the executive director and chief investment officer of the $10 billion Cook County Pension Fund. Reporting to the Board of Trustees, she was charged with directing strategy and policies for the governance and administration of the fund. Before becoming executive director, Ms. Hackett served as the fund’s first chief investment officer establishing investment policy, asset allocation strategy, and operational structure for the combined plans since 2008. She was also a member of the Deferred Compensation Committee with responsibility for policy and manager selection for plan participants.

Ms. Hackett has over 20 years of cumulative expertise in investment management and capital markets, with prior experience as vice president at Bear Stearns and CIBC Oppenheimer, and as a consultant to plan sponsors.

She serves on the board of directors of the First Women’s Bank and is part of the Harvard Business School Case Collection. She earned her M.B.A. in Finance and Economics from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and her B.A. in History from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Ms. Hackett is an avid supporter of civic and cultural engagement. She is Vice Chair of Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and serves on the Governance and Nominating Committee as well as the Investment Committee. She also supports various cultural institutions throughout the area.