Dr. Rabin Nickens (also known as "Dr. Rabin") is an award-winning educator, author, scholar, and speaker. As CEO of Rabin Nickens Consulting LLC, she empowers education leaders to improve teaching and learning through organizational consulting, team professional learning, instructional leadership coaching, and digital resources.

She draws from over 25 years of success driving achievement in education, including several systems-level leadership roles within the largest school system in the United States – such as Director of ELA for New York City Public Schools – serving more than 1,800 schools across 42 districts.

In these roles, Dr. Rabin expanded access to creative literacy programs for students in underserved communities, designed highly-rated professional learning programs for both school leaders and teachers, and innovated systems for cross-district collaboration. In addition, she authored official NYCDOE guidance on evidence-based instructional practices, incorporated into thousands of school and district-level comprehensive education plans. A skilled scholar-practitioner, she also led research on curricular quality that shaped citywide literacy policy, including adoption of instructional materials and proven classroom methodologies, ensuring every student has equitable access to the education needed to become strong readers.

The author of numerous texts, Dr. Rabin’s book, The Playmaking Way: Using Dramatic Arts to Support Young Readers and Writers, received praise from leaders of the International Literacy Association and NYU Metro Center. Her dissertation, An Examination of Urban Education Leadership in the Time of COVID-19, earned an outstanding systems thinking research award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is featured in the volume Racially and Ethnically Diverse Women Leading Education: A World View, and her chapter “Authenticity and the African American Female School Leader” has been cited internationally in Journal of School Leadership, Journal of Education Human Resources, and International Journal of Diversity in Education. In addition, she was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the nation's top educators for raising student and teacher achievement.

Dr. Rabin holds a Doctorate in Education and Ed.M. from Columbia University, an M.S.Ed. from Bank Street College, a B.A. from Baruch College, CUNY and studied at the University of Ghana. She is certified as both a School District and School Building Leader, and has specialized training in Orton-Gillingham multisensory literacy instruction.

In addition to her work within K to 12 education, Dr. Rabin is also an NYABJ award-winning journalist, a college/university advisor and lecturer, and avid world traveler who has visited, worked, or studied in countries across the globe.