Conquering Self-Doubt and Cultural Paradigms
Program Titles
- Decision-Making in a High-Speed Environment
- Successfully Navigating Change & Adversity
- Leading Through Times of Crisis
- Tick-Borne Disease and the Military
Nicole Malachowski, Colonel USAF (Retired), inspires audiences to rethink the challenges they face every day. Nicole empowers people with three fundamental beliefs: failure and risk are the entry price for achieving something great.
Nicole brings her experience to the stage and holds audiences spellbound with the easygoing authenticity of someone who’s achieved greatness. She’s been a member and leader of exceptional teams. She has faced overwhelming challenges and adversity and has come out on top.
Nicole’s professional story began when she earned her United States Air Force Academy commission. Following graduation, she attended Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) at Columbus AFB, MS, and began her career as a pilot. Competitively selected to fly combat aircraft, she was among the first group of women to fly modern fighter aircraft.
As a career pilot, she served in combat as an F-15E Flight Commander, Evaluator, Instructor Pilot, and Flight Lead. Nicole achieved the rating of Command Pilot with over 2,300 flight hours in six different Air Force aircraft. She was also selected to fly as Thunderbird #3 with the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron – the first woman to fly on any Department of Defense military jet demonstration squadron.
Colonel Malachowski has served as a mission-ready fighter pilot in three operational F-15E fighter squadrons and has flown over 188 combat hours, including her proudest moment as a fighter pilot: leading the first fighter formation to provide security for Iraq’s historic democratic elections.
Nicole was a White House Fellow on the ground, serving on the Presidential Transition Support Team (PTST) while assigned to the U.S. General Services Administration. The White House Fellows Foundation and Association awarded Nicole the IMPACT Award for demonstrating remarkable achievement, transformational contributions in her field, and a sustained commitment to the White House Fellows program.
Nicole also served two high-level staff assignments at the Pentagon – one in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD P&R) as well as the Secretary of the Air Force Office of International Affairs (SAF/IA). She served as the Executive Director of the White House’s national ‘Joining Forces’ initiative, where she directly advised former First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden on all topics relating to service members, veterans, and military families, including employment, education, mental health, veterans’ homelessness and more.
Nicole’s operational F-15E assignments include two tours of duty at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, and one operational assignment to Seymour Johnson AFB, NC. She has also served alongside the United States Army 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Red Cloud, Republic of Korea, as an Air Liaison Officer. During her second assignment to Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, she had the 33rd Fighter Squadron, leading an elite cadre of F-15E Instructors in training the next generation of combat aviators. Further, she was responsible for resources totaling over $1.1B and the execution of a $119M annual flying hour program.
Nicole earned a Master of Arts, with honors, in National Security Policy from American Military University and a second Master of Arts, with highest distinction, in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. While there, she earned the Admiral Stephen B. Luce Award as the class honor graduate, the first Air Force officer in the Naval War College’s history to do so.
Nicole has received several prestigious honors in recognition of her significant contributions to various endeavors, including the Award of Inspiration, an international organization of women pilots dedicated to encouraging and inspiring people to chase their dreams, whether in aviation or in other areas.
As Nicole continues to recover from her neurological tick-borne illness, she embraces any opportunity to educate others about her medical journey. She gains energy from educating others about this growing epidemic.
Nicole was announced as one of 2020’s “Mighty 25” by We Are The Mighty for her passionate advocacy for veterans’ health. The Mighty 25 is a recognition bestowed each year to change-makers in the veteran, active duty, and military family space.
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