Help Nikole raise money

I’m running my third half-marathon.

At almost 50*, I don’t run for speed. I run slow and steady. I run grateful that my legs work. I run because movement clears my head.

And I run for Kate.

I still think about her. I still want her back. Grief doesn’t really soften — it just changes shape. Some days it’s quiet. Some days it sneaks up on me in the middle of a meeting or when I see something beautifully designed or when I’m about to send a spicy text and wish she were here to tell me to “go high" or "think about whether you want that on the front of the NY Times."

Kate was a woman on a mission. She put everyone before herself. She saw the best in people — even when they came in blazing hot. She listened deeply. She studied. She opened her heart wide to perspectives and experiences that weren’t her own. She had a particular empathy for the underdog.  All the underdogs.

Amazing mom. Loving partner. Educational innovator. Corny joke lover. Thai food enthusiast (no baby corns, please). Design genius. Diplomat. Workwife. Beautiful human.

She made quiet imprints on hearts and minds everywhere she went.

She made me better — at work, at leadership, at restraint, at believing in ridiculous ideas and then figuring out how to make them real. Pittsburgh probably doesn’t even fully know what she did behind the curtain to create beauty, inclusive spaces, and thoughtful diplomacy in rooms where it mattered.

I miss her banter. I miss her advice. I miss her ridiculously good style. I miss how she would talk me down when I was hurt and ready to scorch the earth. I miss that she believed in me even when I didn’t.

And more than anything, I miss knowing she’s out there fighting for the underdog. All the underdogs.

This year, I’m asking you to consider a donation to support Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation.

I chose this charity because I want more research for women. I want more cures for women. I want my tribe of fabulous, fierce, complicated, brilliant women to live long lives...to love, to lead, to create, to forgive, to fight, to do all the things we do every single day despite the patriarchy.

We need more strong, quiet, brilliant women in this world.  We need more Kates.

A gift in Kate’s honor honors her legacy — and it fuels my stubborn belief that change is possible.

I’ll carry her with me for 13.1 miles.

Slow. Steady. Grateful.

Running for Kate. Always.

*I turn 50 on 4/20 so you can also think of it as a birthday present and cheers to making it around the sun this many times ;)