Biography

Nikki Graves is an Assistant Professor in the Practice of Management Communication at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.  Graves, who has 15 years of college-level teaching experience and course development, teaches introductory and advanced classes focusing on corporate communication and writing and presentation skills.  She also founded and manages the Goizueta Presentation Coaching Program (GPCP).  The GPCP employs exceptional BBA and MBA students as presentation coaches.  Coaches offer assistance to members of the Goizueta community with academic and professional presentations, mock interviewing and case competition coaching.  Graves also serves as a co-advisor for the Communications Club, a student-led organization that arranges speakers and events throughout the academic year for the BBA community.

In addition to teaching, Graves also offers communications and executive consulting.  She has been certified in the Birkman Method, an industry-leading personality assessment that facilitates team building, executive coaching, leadership development, career management and interpersonal conflict resolution.  She works with Goizueta’s Executive MBA Program to provide coaching to participants of the Managerial Leadership program.  Within the Emory community, she has provided presentation training for Goizueta’s MBA and Evening MBA and Executive MBA programs, the Emory Medical School, and the Office of Admissions for Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Graves also provides communications training to clients external to Emory.  Selected clients include Newell Rubbermaid, American Association of Occupational Nurses, Priviva, and Boston Consulting Group. 

In addition to teaching and consulting, Graves serves as a member of Emory’s President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW).   She was recently appointed to be Junior Chair Elect of the PCSW, which is a two-year apprenticeship that will culminate in serving as PCSW chair.

Before joining Goizueta as a faculty member, Graves served as the scholarship and fellowship advisor for the Office of Student Academic Affairs at Emory University.  She developed and led application-writing workshops, edited application essays, coached students on writing and interviewing skills and served on scholarship interview and selection committees.  She also worked as a consultant for Goizueta’s Business Writing Center (BWC), where she provided individual writing instruction and editing services.

While completing her Ph.D., Graves consulted as a technical writer.  She wrote user’s manuals for software for Great Southern Life and Dexus Technologies.  She also taught English as a second language.

Graves holds an MA and Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University, and an MA and BA in English for Auburn University.  She continues to be interested in women’s issues and is currently researching the role of gender and communication in the wage gap.  She is an active member in Association for Business Communication, International Association for Business Communication, and Management Communication Association. 

Academic Background
M.A. & Ph.D., Women's Studies, Emory University
B.A. & M.A., English, Auburn University