Nicholas is one of Canada’s most experienced and respected consultants in the charitable sector. He is the President and Founder of Offord Group, which he created in 2004 as a strategic advisory alternative to charities with a focus on capacity building.

Following a five-year career (1984-1989) as a Campaign Director, Nicholas served as Executive Director of Development at McGill University. While there, he received the 1994 gold medal for “Best Development Program” from the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education, in recognition of his work in support of McGill’s hugely successful $200 million campaign. In 1995, he became the President of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation. Here, Nicholas led the breakthrough “The Best Medicine” campaign, which raised over $400 million. After 10 years, he left Mount Sinai in 2005 to found Offord Group.

In 1999, the Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals awarded him “Outstanding Executive of the Year.” In 2000, he was selected as one of “Canada's Top 40 Leaders Under 40” by the Report on Business magazine. In 2002, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Ontario Minister of Health with a focus on health care reform.

In September 2010, Nicholas was appointed Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. He also serves as Director of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.