Nikki Kāhealani Chun, Ph.D.
Founder, Principal Consultant | Honolulu, Hawai’i

Nikki Kāhealani Chun is an enrollment strategist, educator, and critical ʻŌiwi scholar who has spent more than two decades shaping how institutions think about access, equity, and belonging. Her work spans public and private universities across the continental U.S. and Hawaiʻi, and is rooted in the conviction that leadership grows strongest where relationships and systems meet.

She brings to her consulting practice a rare combination of policy fluency, cultural grounding, and relational leadership — helping institutions and rising leaders find coherence amid complexity. Through Chun & Associates, she continues the work she has always done: weaving strategy with story, building from the middle out, and ensuring that every enrollment story matters.

Philosophy
For Nikki, enrollment work is leadership work — and leadership begins with connection. Her approach integrates systems thinking with storytelling, data with empathy, and institutional goals with human purpose.

Chun & Associates exists to honor that balance — to help institutions design structures that remember people, and to nurture the rising stars who make those structures come alive.

Affiliates & Recognition

• President, College Horizons (Board of Directors)

• Member, Hawaiʻi ACAC and past member, Western ACAC

• Past Chair, Western ACAC Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee

• Co-founder, Wonder Women in Admissions

• Featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Washington Post for leadership in test-optional policy reform and enrollment equity

Education
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership — Colorado State University
M.S.Ed. in Enrollment Management — University of Miami
B.S.C. in Media Management and Economics — University of Miami