Our Founder Story

Rooted in Legacy. Guided by Grace. Built for What’s Next.

Harper Slade was born from legacy, vision, and divine inspiration—shaped by a life steeped in justice, scholarship, and an unwavering faith in something greater.

Founder and CEO Nikki Lanier is the daughter of civil rights warriors. Her father, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), stood on the front lines of America’s fight for racial equity. Her mother, a beloved English professor and department chair at Hampton University, created a home and campus environment alive with the voices of Black literary icons like Maya Angelou and James Baldwin. Raised within a community of Black excellence, critical thought, and principled resistance, Nikki learned early what it means to pursue justice with both intellect and compassion.

A proud graduate of Hampton University, Nikki’s professional journey has spanned labor and employment law, human resources leadership, and a senior role with the Federal Reserve. Across every chapter, she’s observed how the narratives we carry—about race, power, difference, and worth—impact how we work, how we lead, and how we relate to one another.

But the true spark for Harper Slade came in 2021 during a spiritual fast. As a woman of deep Christian faith, Nikki experienced a dream—clear, undeniable, and purpose-filled. In that dream, Harper Slade was revealed to her not simply as a business, but as an assignment. A calling. One rooted in the single most defining value of her faith: grace

At Harper Slade, grace is not just a virtue—it’s the standard. It shapes the way Nikki leads her team, partners with clients, and navigates the often complex terrain of organizational change. Her style is potent yet disarming, grounded in accountability, but always in service of human dignity.

Harper Slade exists to help leaders confront uncomfortable truths, embrace cultural transformation, and build work environments where inclusion is not an aspiration, but a reality. With an eye toward the seismic demographic shifts redefining the workforce, Nikki equips organizations to show up boldly, wisely, and graciously.

The name Harper Slade honors Nikki’s grandmothers—Lenora Harper Robinson and Ernestine Johnson Slade—two women whose quiet courage and unwavering commitment to civil rights shaped generations. Each of them gave birth to children who would ultimately meet, marry, and carry on that sacred work. And now, through Harper Slade, Nikki continues their legacy.

“This assignment was given to me in utero. And I am proud to carry it forward.”

This is not just her career. It is her calling, her inheritance—and her offering.