School Alumni Associations

IU School of Social Work Alumni Association

Alumni Profiles

Nicki Fleming

I was born in Indianapolis; however, I am from a military family, so I was raised everywhere.  We lived in Germany for 10 years, and I've lived in states such as New York, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Hawaii, and Kansas.  I've also traveled to Spain, Italy, Mexico, and England. Moving from place to place was not difficult for me because it was the military way of life and it was the only life I had known.  However, I learned an invaluable lesson throughout all my travels - family is who you make it - meaning, what constitutes a family for one person may be different for someone else.  Moving and meeting new people showed me the value of having a strong network of people that cared about children, not just the people that biology had determined were considered to be our family.  This philosophy embodies my own core beliefs of the importance of "family" and the roles that individuals play in shaping the beliefs and values of children.  This has definitely been a concept that has helped me with understanding families and the challenges that face them.

IU chose me instead of it being the other way around.  I had just had my daughter and moved to Indianapolis.  I started going to school so that I could find something to do with my spare time and figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

 I became interested in Social Work while I was enrolled in the School of Education to become an English teacher.  As much as I believe that having an education is extremely important to children, when their basic needs are not being met, it makes it very difficult for children to really concentrate on receiving an education.  Additionally, there was not enough hands-on work with the family for me in Education.  After talking with the Director for the BSW Program at the IU School of Social Work, IUPUI Campus, Dr. Irene Quiero-Tajalli, I made the decision that Social Work was a better fit for what I wanted to accomplish with my life.

I graduated from IUSSW in 2003 with my BSW, and then earned my MSW in 2004.  For the Bachelor's program, my placement during my junior year was at the Community Alliance for the Far Eastside (C.A.F.E.), which is a community center, and at the Hancock Memorial Hospital during my senior year.  For my Master's, I did the accelerated program with concentrations in health/mental health/leadership.  My foundation year, I was placed at the Gallahue Mental Health Clinic of Hancock County working in outpatient services with children and adults with chronic mental illnesses as well as substance abuse, and during my concentration year, I was placed at Community Family Practice Residency Program working with doctors during their residency program to incorporate social work skills into their practice.  All of my placements were awesome experiences.  The thing I have to offer about these experiences is that a person gets from their placements what they put into them.  Although some of my placements wouldn't have been my first choices, I was able to make a niche for myself and develop my skills further in those placements which ended up making them worthwhile and more meaningful for me long-term.  My best placement was with Jaris Hammond, LCSW at Hancock Memorial Hospital.  She was and continues to be such a supportive and influential person in my life both professionally and personally.  She has embodied what I continue to aspire to be as a social worker. 

My job experience has been in social work for about the last 12 years.  I have worked and volunteered in domestic violence shelters, community centers, hospitals, youth and family therapy, substance abuse counseling, and case management with child protective services.  I am now a supervisor with the Madison County Department of Child Services where we protect children from abuse and neglect and work with families to ensure the safety of their children.

I belong to the National Association of Social Workers and the National Association of Black Social Workers.  While in school, I served as the President for the Bachelor's Student Association and Senator for the Bachelor's Student Association and the Master's Student Association.  I served on the Mental Health Board for Hancock County for 2 years.  I've been on the IUSSW Alumni Association Board since 2002.

I have supervised students as a faculty field liaison with the IUSSW and I currently have 10 students.  I am also supervising students as a field liaison in their placements for the Department of Child Services from Ball State, Anderson University, and IU.

I recently got married (yeah, I want to tell the world)!  I married my elementary school sweetheart who was my first boyfriend, Alan Fleming, Jr., on October 8, 2007 in Bennington, Vermont.  Alan works as a Foreman for a company called Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. He is from Evans Mills, New York.  I have a daughter named Caitlyn who is 8 years old and she is in the 3rd grade at Lawrence Christian School in Lawrence, Indiana.  We have three dogs named Cinnamon, Scrappy, and Asia.  Most of my hobbies tend to center around social work/social justice type of activities; however, for those unwinding moments, my daughter and I go roller-skating on the weekends.  We also do Taekwondo three times a week for 2 hours each class.  This keeps me in shape and keeps my spirits high! 

See the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations Calendar of Events for upcoming School of Social Work alumni programs.

School of Social Work web site 

IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations contact:
Karen Deery, (317) 274-8959 or kdeery@iupui.edu