Nicole Pressley was appointed Director of the Office of Housing and Individual Assistance in 2021. She began her career at MEMA in 2008 as the Mississippi Alternative Housing Pilot Program (MAHP) program manager on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2010, Nicole began working at the State Emergency Operations Center, where she served as a Public Information Officer in MEMA’s External Affairs Office. During this time, she worked on several federally declared disasters as a then-State Emergency Response Team (SERT) member.
In 2012, Nicole was assigned to the Office of Preparedness’s Planning Bureau as the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) Coordinator and a planner for Districts 7, 8, and 9. In this role, Nicole worked on several federally declared disasters, including an Emergency Management Assistance Compact mission to New Jersey as part of the response effort for Hurricane Sandy.
In 2017, Nicole was assigned to the Office of Support Services as a Grants Specialist over the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG). In 2019, Nicole was named director of the newly created Housing Bureau under the Office of Housing and Individual Assistance (OHIA).
A native of Dallas, Texas, Nicole graduated from Jackson State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications, News Editorial/Public Relations. Soon after graduating, she began a 10-year career in print journalism for various newspapers and magazines. Before her employment at MEMA, Nicole worked on the staff of former Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr., and current U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson.
Nicole, who is a member of the Mississippi Civil Defense and Emergency Management Association (MCDEMA), currently lives in Byram with her husband LaMonte, whom she met at JSU.
